ELYRIA — A county judge cleared James Machovina on Thursday of charges he was involved in a brutal beating two years ago after the victim in the case said he had a different account of the fight than he did during an earlier court appearance.

Andy Robinson, Machovina’s lawyer, called Travis Noble a “liar.”

Machovina

Noble said during a 2007 court hearing that no one else was involved in the fight except for Kenneth Tackett II, who is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after taking a plea deal in the case.

But on Thursday, he said Machovina, who is white, had punched him while he fought with Tackett after he heard him make a racial slur.

Noble, who is black, said he didn’t intentionally lie during the 2007 hearing, but that he remembered things differently when he testified Thursday.

“It was a long time ago,” Noble said. “Probably I wasn’t in the right state of mind.”

Noble said he was trying to answer a yes or no question when he was asked if anyone besides Tackett was involved in the fight and answered no because it most closely fit with his recollection.

“The facts were not clear,” he said.

After Noble’s testimony Robinson asked Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers to dismiss the felonious assault and assault charges his client faced.

“I don’t believe that the state has provided sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that my client committed a felonious assault against Travis Noble, the admitted liar, or even the assault against Brian Perry,” Robinson said.

Perry is a friend of Noble’s who was present at the time of the assault who testified that he had wrestled with Machovina, 23, during the Sept. 21, 2007, fight on Metcalf Road.

Police said that Tackett, who is white, made the racial slur as he and Machovina rode past Noble on their bicycles. Noble, who was 17 at the time, has said he chased after the pair to confront them, but that he thought better of it and backed off.

According to police, Tackett then attacked Noble, leaving him with a broken jaw and other cuts and bruises, including a split lip that required 13 stitches.

County Prosecutor Dennis Will said he was not in the courtroom when Ewers dismissed the charges against Machovina and couldn’t comment on the decision.

Robinson also largely declined to comment.

“I’m happy for Jimmy,” he said.

Jack Bradley, Tackett’s lawyer, said last month after his client pleaded guilty in the case that while Tackett was taking responsibility for his role in the attack, he never used a racial slur and that there were problems with Noble’s account of the fight.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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