Angela Webb found not guiltin on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter) ▲ Angela Webb found not guiltin on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter) ▲ Angela Webb found not guiltin on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter) ▲ Angela Webb found not guiltin on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter) ▲ Angela Webb found not guiltin on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter) ▲

Angela Webb will be released from jail Friday night following verdict.

CANTON Angela Webb lurched forward in her chair and sobbed after jurors found her not guilty of attempted murder in the shooting of her husband.

Covering her face with her hands, she was quickly embraced by her attorneys while spectators outwardly expressed emotion. Reactions varied depending on whether those in the gallery supported the defendant or her husband, Anthony Webb.

The verdict followed about six hours of deliberations by a jury of eight women and four men. Jurors also found the 39-year-old Bethlehem Township woman not guilty of felonious assault. Charges stemmed from when she shot 46-year-old Anthony Webb multiple times following a day of arguing and what she said was years of physical and emotional abuse.

Webb testified her husband had thrown her down basement stairs. After a struggle ensued over a 9mm gun, the defendant said she shot her husband in the elbow to slow him down. When he chased after her, Webb testified, she shot him in the stomach before fleeing to a neighbor's home and asking them to call 911.

During his testimony earlier this week, the husband gave a different account, saying his wife pointed a gun at him while he was making coffee. He testified his wife told him she was going to shoot and kill him. Prosecutors argued during the trial the husband never posed a serious physical threat to Angela Webb prior to being shot.

"We are relieved and so happy," said Laura Mills, one of the defendant's attorneys. "This was a case that obviously meant a lot to us. We loved our client, we believed her wholeheartedly and we put just our heart and soul into this case. So we're thankful that the jury paid attention, listened to everything that we had to say and we had a great judge. Judge (Frank) Forchione is fair and the trial went as well as could be expected.

"I don't know that there was any one key piece of evidence," Mills said of the acquittal. "I think what we had to do was we had to put the puzzle together as to what happened that day, and I think we had a theme and a story that we told from opening that was still the same theme and story that we told at close."

And "I think Angela did a great job herself describing what she had lived through and that the jury believed her."

Angela Webb was expected to be released from the Stark County Jail on Friday night. "We'll make sure that she's safe tonight and we'll transition her back in with her family," Mills said. The attorney said Angela Webb hoped divorce proceedings would be finalized by the end of the year.

It was Webb's second trial, the first ending in a mistrial when members of the jury discussed the case before all the evidence was heard.

Richard Nicodemo, an assistant Stark County prosecutor, expressed disappointment in the verdict.

"We thought there was more than enough evidence to convict her but the jury saw it differently," said Nicodemo, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Petricini. "In these types of cases, it's hard to be shocked by any outcome."

Reacting to the verdict

Neither side disputed Webb shot her husband on Jan. 19 at their Hudson Drive SW home. But during a trial that began Monday, the prosecution and defense presented vastly different versions of events leading up to the shooting.

The defense said Webb shot her husband in self-defense after suffering the trauma of two decades of physical and emotional abuse. The prosecution said following an earlier incident Jan. 19, the defendant could have retreated from the situation instead of returning to their home and shooting him.

When the verdict was announced by Judge Forchione, friends and relatives of Anthony Webb were seated on one side of the gallery.

Among those waiting tensely to learn Angela Webb's fate was her daughter, Corinna Webb, 21, who had testified in the trial a day earlier. Anthony Webb is her father.

Emotionally overwhelmed, the daughter reacted to the verdict briefly before leaving the courthouse. "I don't know how I feel," she said, her eyes reddened from tears. "I feel I put my mind to the worst. I had the mindset (Angela) was going to be found guilty.

"I don't know how to feel about it," Corinna Webb said, expressing surprise at the verdict.

Awaiting the decision on the other side of the courtroom were supporters of Angela Webb, including representatives of the Domestic Violence Project Inc.

Mills thanked Cheli Curran, the agency's executive director, and others for their support. Mills served as co-counsel on the case with attorney Pierce Walker.

Domestic violence cases are difficult for jurors, Walker said.

"You're asking someone to analyze someone's relationship and analyze their marriage and what happens behind closed doors and that's difficult," he said.

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315

and ed.balint@cantonrep.com

On Twitter @ebalintREP