State v. Richard E. Joseph
| Decision Date | 23 December 1993 |
| Docket Number | 93-LW-4454,1-91-11 |
| Parties | STATE OF OHIO, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE v. RICHARD E. JOSEPH, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT CASE NUMBER 1-91-11. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Criminal Appeal from Common Pleas Court.
MR JAMES KURA, Ohio Public Defender, Reg. #0014857, MS. KATHLEEN A. MCGARRY, Reg. #0038707, Ohio Public Defender Commission, 8 East Long Street - 11th Floor, Columbus, OH 43266-0587, For Appellant.
MR WILLIAM F. KLUGE, Attorney at Law, Reg. #0022433, 124 South Metcalf Street, Lima, OH 45801, For Appellant.
MR DAVID E. BOWERS, Prosecuting Attorney, Reg. #0001011, MR. GARY R. HERMON, Reg. #0032769, 204 North Main Street, Suite 301, Lima, OH 45801, For Appellee.
This is an appeal by the defendant, Richard E. Joseph, from a judgment of conviction and sentence of death rendered upon a jury verdict and recommendation in the Court of Common Pleas of Allen County for the kidnapping and aggravated murder of Ryan Young.
In the fall of 1989, Richard Joseph ("Joseph") began dating Cara Wierman. The two were seniors at Bath High School in Allen County. They dated on a steady basis until February of 1990 after which time they continued seeing each other, but were not dating on a regular basis. In April, Cara started dating Ryan Young, a sophomore at the same high school. Cara and Ryan lived about three-miles apart on Thayer Road in Bath Township. Although not in the same year of high school, Ryan and Joseph knew each other from playing together on the school football team.
Cara testified that Joseph was jealous of Ryan's relationship with her. Joseph wanted her to stop seeing Ryan so they could renew their relationship. This was evidenced by several letters Joseph wrote to Cara indicating his jealousy and desire to continue dating Cara. In one letter Joseph indicated he had secretly watched Cara and Ryan together for three hours. Cara also testified that on Monday, June 25, 1990, the day prior to the kidnapping, she and Ryan observed Joseph driving around in the area where they lived. Cara indicated she did not normally see Joseph driving in this area.
On Tuesday, June 26, 1990, Ryan had planned to play tennis with a friend. These plans, however, were changed due to rain. Instead, Ryan went to Cara's house to watch a video movie. He left for Cara's house at approximately 7:00 p.m. driving his father's 1981 two door Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Ryan, Cara and a third individual, Michelle Rumer, watched the movie together. At approximately 10:30 p.m. Ryan called his parents and got permission to stay longer at Cara's house in order to finish watching the movie.
At about 11:15 that night Cara's next door neighbor, Rose Fetter, was outside walking her dog when she observed a clean white car driving slowly on Thayer Road. There were two occupants in the car. Mrs. Fetter indicated she first saw the car being driven north up Thayer Road. About ten minutes later she observed the car heading south on Thayer Road. The car pulled into a dirt driveway leading to property owned by a local kennel club and parked for a few minutes. Just prior to Mrs. Fetter going into her home she observed the car back out of the driveway and head north for a second time. Mrs. Fetter testified she and her husband took care of the property for the kennel club and that she had mowed around the driveway earlier in the day and did not observe any tire tracks at that time. However, the next morning she noticed there were tire tracks in the driveway.
The movie ended at approximately 11:30 p.m. at which time Michelle left to go home. Ryan stayed about fifteen or twenty minutes after Michelle left. Ryan and Cara walked out of Cara's house and into the driveway. As Ryan got into the car, Cara heard him remark, "That looks like the white Cutlass that Dick [referring to Joseph] drives." As Ryan backed his car into the street, Cara saw the interior dome light in Ryan's car come on and heard what she thought was a voice. She also saw Ryan's head turned toward the passenger side door.
Cara went into the house, watched television for a few minutes then decided to go to bed. As she was closing the front door, she saw a clean white car being driven in front of her house. She watched as the car passed in front of her house approximately ten to twelve times. She recognized the car as the white Cutlass belonging to William Forest ("Forest"), a friend of Joseph's. Cara testified Joseph and Jose Bulerin ("Bulerin"), Joseph's close friend and roommate, often borrowed Forest's car. Cara became upset, called Michelle Rumer and told her she thought Joseph was driving in front of her house. At about 1:00 a.m.Cara called the residence shared by Joseph and Bulerin. She spoke with Joseph's cousin, April Joseph, who testified neither Joseph nor Bulerin were at home to answer the call. Cara again called Michelle and talked for a short while before calling Joseph's residence a second time. Joseph and Bulerin had not returned home.
Around 4:00 a.m. Ryan's father awoke and discovered neither his son nor the car Ryan had been driving were at home. Ryan's mother then called Cara, only to discover he had left between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. Thinking their son had been in an accident, Ryan's parents drove down Thayer Road towards Cara's house. They found the car Ryan had been driving parked off the road with no sign of Ryan. Although the motor was turned off, the keys were in the ignition and the car was still in gear. There were no indications of a robbery as Ryan's wallet and money were left on the seat of the car. A wet spot and black marks were found on the passenger seat of the car. These marks were from a charred log found in a patch of high grass located across the street from Cara's house, indicating whoever entered Ryan's car had been sitting on the log in this thicket waiting for Ryan to leave. The sheriff's department was notified and a search began.
As a result of information provided by Cara, the investigation of Ryan's disappearance focused around Joseph. Deputy King of the sheriff's department went to the residence where Joseph and Bulerin lived. The deputy testified he arrived at Joseph's home around 5:10 a.m. on the morning Ryan was discovered missing and observed a white Cutlass parked in the driveway. This car was identified as belonging to Forest. The hood and radiator of the car were warm to the touch, and despite the high humidity, the car was not covered with dew like other cars in the driveway. There was an empty gun holster lying on the floor behind the driver's seat. Forest testified he did not own a gun holster. There was also a dirty hand print on the trunk of the car which was washed daily. The deputy spoke with Joseph and Bulerin. Joseph was hesitant to respond to questions about Ryan's disappearance; staring at the ground and providing answers that were barely audible. The deputy testified that in spite of the early morning hour, Joseph did not appear to have been asleep. The deputy also noticed fresh blisters on Joseph's right hand.
Over the next week, Joseph and Bulerin were questioned several times by law enforcement officers. Both disclaimed any knowledge of Ryan's disappearance. Joseph told the sheriff's detectives that on the day of the disappearance he Was working with Forest at Indian Lake in Logan County. They had been building a deck in order to install a hot tub adjacent to a house owned by Forest's stepfather. Joseph further stated to the detectives that he and Forest quit working around 6:30 p.m. and drove back to Lima to attend karate class. The karate class was taught by Bulerin with Joseph sometimes helping as a co-instructor. After class Forest left with his girlfriend who came to meet him. Forest did not see either Joseph or Bulerin again that night. Joseph and Bulerin left karate class in Forest's car, the white Cutlass. They went home, got cleaned up then left to get something to eat. Afterwards the pair drove around in Forest's car for several hours before returning home and going to bed at approximately 2:39 a.m.
Forest testified that on Wednesday, June 27, 1990, the day following Ryan's disappearance, Bulerin had the tires changed on Forest's car. The tires that had been on the automobile were recovered by Detective Ketchum who testified the tread pattern on one of the tires was similar to the tire prints found in the driveway to the kennel club located on Thayer Road.
Throughout the week following Ryan's disappearance an extensive search was conducted. On July 4, 1990, the Allen County Sheriff's Department acted upon information provided by one of Joseph's co-workers and instituted a search at a sand and gravel pit located in Auglaize County and owned by Joseph's grandparents. Joseph was familiar with the sand and gravel pit because he would go there to target shoot.
Ryan's body was discovered in a shallow grave. The body was wrapped in heavy plastic which had been cut from a larger piece of plastic found at the residence where Joseph and Bulerin had been helping Forest to build a deck. A black martial arts mask was found underneath the body. There were several horizontal cuts on Ryan's neck, indicating a sharp instrument had been held there. An autopsy revealed Ryan had suffered two stab wounds, one at the base of his skull and the other in the right flank. Although either wound could have been lethal, it was not determined which wound resulted in Ryan's death. These wounds were consistent with a type of knife which Forest kept in his car and which was missing the day after the disappearance.
Joseph and Bulerin were jointly indicted for purposely causing the death of Ryan Young while committing or while fleeing immediately after committing kidnapping. The indictment also contained a death...
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