State v. Keith Lamar
| Decision Date | 13 August 1998 |
| Docket Number | 95CA31,98-LW-4115 |
| Parties | State of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Keith LaMar, Appellant Case |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Kristin Burkett, Newark, Ohio, and Carol A. Wright, Columbus, Ohio for Appellant.[1]
Mark Piepmier and William E. Breyer, Special Prosecutors Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellee.
DECISION
Keith LaMar appeals his conviction for nine counts of aggravated murder and the sentence of death on seven of those counts. LaMar asserts nineteen assignments of error. See appendix. We reject all of LaMar's assignments of error. We also independently evaluate the sentence and find the death penalty appropriate. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment and sentence of the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas.
Sergeant Howard Hudson testified that Muslim inmates at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility planned a riot. Inmates took over the L block of the prison on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1993, because prison officials scheduled tuberculosis tests, which conflicted with the Muslims, religious beliefs. Muslim and non-Muslim inmates participated in numerous killings, assaults, and kidnappings during the riot.
The Scioto County Grand Jury indicted non-Muslim inmate LaMar for nine counts of aggravated murder involving the deaths of inmates Albert Staiano, Bruce Vitale, William Svette, Darrell and Dennis Weaver. Five of the counts charged LaMar with purposefully causing the death of each of the five men with prior calculation and design. See R.C. 2903.01(A). Four of the counts charged LaMar with purposefully causing the death of four of the men--Staiano, Vitale, Svette, and Depina--while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping. See R.C. 2903.01(B).
The grand jury also indicted LaMar with death penalty specifications that, in the death of all five men, (1) the offense was committed while LaMar was a prisoner in a detention facility, R.C. 2929.04(A)(4); (2) prior to the offense at bar, LaMar was convicted of an offense an essential element of which was the purposeful killing of or attempt to kill another, R.C. 2929.04(A)(5); and (3) the offense at bar was part of a course of conduct involving the purposeful killing of or attempt to kill two or more persons by the offender, R.C. 2929.04(A)(5). The grand jury also indicted LaMar with a specification in the deaths of Staiano Vitale, Svette, and Depina that the aggravated murder was committed while LaMar was committing or attempting to commit kidnapping and LaMar was the principal offender or committed the aggravated murder with prior calculation and design. R.C. 2929.04(A)(7).
The trial court eventually transferred this case from Scioto County to Lawrence County. The court ruled on numerous pretrial motions which we will discuss as needed.
At trial, the state presented numerous exhibits and testimony from many witnesses, several of which we have highlighted.
Muslim inmate Stacey Gordon, a former cell mate of LaMar, testified that he told LaMar before the riot of the Muslims' plan to take over part of the prison.
Innate Thomas "Tony" Taylor testified that on the afternoon of April 11th, inmates from the L block were outside in the recreation yard. Taylor saw some of these inmates overpower the guards as the inmates left the yard to return to their cells.
Inmate Louis Jones testified that he met LaMar in prison and knew him for about five years. On the afternoon of April 11th, Jones was in L4[2] when he saw inmates with clubs, knives, and other weapons chase corrections officers into L4. The rioters eventually took several corrections officers hostage and obtained access to the control consoles. The inmates that broke into L4 then escorted the other inmates, including Jones, into the main hallway (the L corridor). Jones proceeded to the recreation yard where he met Derek Cannon and LaMar.
Jones, Cannon, and LaMar went back inside the L complex to their cells in L6 to secure their property. Inside L6, Jones observed (1) guards locked in the showers, (2) some inmates locked in cells, and (3) inmate Timothy Grinnell positioned at the control console with other individuals near him. Jones, Cannon, and LaMar left L6 and walked toward the recreation yard. However, Muslims armed with clubs and knives blocked their exit to the yard. The three retreated.
Jones, Cannon, and LaMar started talking. LaMar said, The term "snitch" referred to those inmates who provided information to prison officials. LaMar approached the Muslim in control of the area and asked him, "If we kill the snitches, could we be let out to the yard so we don't be a part of this?" The Muslim went into L4 to tell riot leaders about LaMar's request. He returned and told LaMar, "The orders has been granted to kill the snitches." The Muslim then went to L6 to prepare for LaMar and his group to enter.
Jones, Cannon, and LaMar walked through the L corridor and met inmates known as Pittsburgh, Little Hatt, and Tiger (Eric Scales). LaMar told them of the plan to "kill snitches and got out of here." The Muslim then came out of L6 and said that they had permission to enter.
Jones, Cannon, LaMar, Pittsburgh, Little Matt, and Scales (hereinafter the "death squad") went into L2 and put on hastily crafted masks. LaMar donned a T-shirt over his face and a sheet draped around the other part of his body. Each member of the death squad gathered weapons such as bats, shovels, and weight bars. LaMar chose a shovel.
The death squad left L2, met and added L. A. Jay and Curry as members, and entered L6. Grinnell was still at the console which contained the controls to open and close the cell doors. The death squad proceeded to the second tier of the two-tiered cell block and stopped at a cell holding Detroit (Depina). LaMar hollered down to Grinnell to open the cell. Grinnell opened the door.
LaMar ordered Detroit to come out of the cell. Detroit refused and begged for mercy. LaMar and Curry entered the cell, struck Detroit with a shovel and bat, and dragged him outside the call onto the narrow upper-tier walkway. LaMar, Curry, Pittsburgh, and L. A. Jay then attacked Detroit, beating him for some time.
The death squad then came downstairs to the first tier, had a call opened, and beat another inmate. The death squad moved to another cell. LaMar hollered to Grinnell to open the call holding Vitale. The cell opened but Vitale would not come out. LaMar stopped into the cell and hit Vitale on the top of the head with the shovel. LaMar and Curry dragged Vitale outside the cell. LaMar, Curry, Pittsburgh and L. A. Jay then severely beat Vitale. Jones and other members of the death squad joined in the beating of Vitale after LaMar looked at then and stated, "I didn't bring you all in here to stand around."
The squad started to move on but halted when Vitale tried to stand up. Pittsburgh turned around and struck Vitale some more, and L. A. Jay approached Vitale and stabbed him six or seven times in the neck.
The death squad moved on. Svette, a sixty-nine year old who used a walker, vociferously expressed his displeasure with the death squad. LaMar hollered for Grinnell to open the door to Svette's cell, and Grinnell complied. LaMar grabbed Svette by the arm to remove him from the cell. Svette staggered back in his cell as he slipped his arm out of LaMar's grip. Curry and LaMar then entered the cell and beat Svette. LaMar hit Svette in the head with a shovel.
The squad began to move on when they noticed Svette's legs moving. LaMar started to proceed back to Svette's cell when Jones grabbed LaMar's arm and said, LaMar snatched his arm away and went to the cell. LaMar stepped inside and hit Svette in the face with the shovel.
The death squad moved to a cell holding Thomas Taylor. LaMar and Curry told Taylor that they would let him live if he would kill the inmate in the cell next to him. Taylor chose to kill the inmate. LaMar hollered to Grinnell to open the two cells. Grinnell complied and opened the cells holding Albert Staiano and Taylor. Curry gave Taylor a bat. Staiano attempted to flee, but fell after Pittsburgh tripped him. Taylor then hit Staiano in the head several times with the bat. Taylor also smashed a fire extinguisher into Staiano's face. LaMar and Curry then told Taylor to return to his cell, and Taylor complied.
The death squad moved to a another cell, but Grinnell would not open the door because the Muslims did not want the occupants of that cell killed. The death squad then left L6.
The squad went to L2, and, with the permission of the Muslims, proceeded out to the recreation yard. Once in the yard, Jones saw inmate Dennis Weaver sitting on a bench and heard LaMar tell Curry,
The inmates in the recreation yard, who numbered around three hundred, remained there until approximately 3:00 a.m. on April 12, 1993. At that time, officers surrounded the inmates and took them inside the X side gym. The officers ordered inmates to strip naked, handcuffed them, and directed them into cells, five to ten per cell. Jones did not share a cell with LaMar.
The state presented several witnesses who corroborated the grim testimony provided by Jones. However, the witnesses disagreed with Tones on certain details, including the order of Svette and Staiano's deaths.
Anthony Walker testified that at the time of the riot he lived in L6 and knew LaMar. Walker said that he stood by a back door in...
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