State v. Thomas L. Rudge, 96-LW-5668
| Decision Date | 20 December 1996 |
| Docket Number | 96-LW-5668,95-P-0055 |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THOMAS L. RUDGE, Defendant-Appellant. CASE |
Criminal Appeal from Court of Common Pleas Case No. 95 CR 0015
HON DONALD R. FORD, P.J., HON. JUDITH A. CHRISTLEY, J., HON JOSEPH E. MAHONEY, J.
DENNIS WATKINS, TRUMBULL COUNTY PROSECUTOR, DEBORAH L. SMITH ASSISTANT PROSECUTOR, 3rd Floor, Administration Building, 160 High Street, N.W., Warren, OH 44481, (For Plaintiff-Appellee)
ATTY NATHAN CLINARD, ARTHUR, NOME & ASSOCIATES, 1325 South Water Street, Kent, OH 44240, (For Defendant-Appellant)
Appellant, Thomas L. Rudge, appeals from his conviction on two counts of aggravated murder, in violation of R.C. 2903.01(A), for the shooting deaths of Shirley Rudge and Robert Sawtelle. Each count contained capital offense and firearm specifications under R.C. 2929.04(A)(5) and R.C. 2941.141, respectively. The trial court sentenced appellant to serve concurrent life sentences with eligibility for parole after thirty years plus three years actual incarceration for the gun specification, to be served before and consecutive to each underlying life sentence at the Lorain Correctional Institution.
The original trial, conducted in Trumbull County, resulted in appellant's conviction on two counts of aggravated murder. The trial court subsequently declared a mistrial based on juror misconduct.(fn1) Pursuant to a change of venue to Portage County, a second trial began on April 4, 1995. The facts leading to the instant appeal are as follows.
Thomas and Shirley Rudge were experiencing marital difficulties, and in June 1991, Shirley Rudge moved out of the marital residence and into a trailer with Tina Szymanski. Szymanski testified that early in June 1991, appellant came unannounced to the trailer, harassed Shirley and demanded to know with whom she was sleeping. The occurrence frightened the women, and Shirley filed an incident report. She also stated that appellant drove by the trailer in the evenings, and that they began receiving hang-up telephone calls.
Testimony was submitted by several of Shirley's co-workers from Med Star Ambulance, who stated that Shirley appeared nervous, upset, and shaken after seeing or talking to appellant. They also testified that Shirley was afraid of appellant, did not want to be left alone with him, and had received several hang-up telephone calls. Barbara Morgan stated that during the summer of 1991, Shirley asked her to listen to a tape-recorded telephone call in which she heard appellant say, "If you're not careful, you'll end up with a bullet like your mother." Raleigh Hughes testified that Shirley told him of a similar conversation. Frederick Yungbluth, who worked with appellant as a volunteer firefighter, said in his testimony that appellant once told him, "Fred, not very many people know this and in fact I don't know if Shirley knows this but, *** while I was in Texas they taught me how to kill."
On January 25, 1992, during the early morning hours, Robert Sawtelle and Shirley Rudge were involved in an accident in which Sawtelle's pickup truck crashed into a tree on East Market Street near the intersection of Oak Knoll in Warren, Ohio. According to Annette Bishop, an older, two-tone, gold mustard colored Ford Marquis was swiftly backing up toward them as she and her husband, Donald, were driving down East Market Street, forcing Donald Bishop to swerve to avoid getting hit. The vehicle suddenly reversed direction, went forward, and turned north onto Oak Knoll. Donald Bishop described the automobile as a mustard colored, gold tone, late seventies or early eighties model larger framed, squared-off vehicle.
The crash awakened Brian and Carol Gaffey, nearby residents, who looked out of their second story window on East Market Street to see what had happened. Carol testified that she saw a driver exit the automobile, which was then parked behind the truck, go to the driver's side of the truck, and stick both hands inside the truck. She stated that she heard a popping sound, saw a pink flash of light, and exclaimed, Subsequently, the man walked back toward the vehicle, got in the automobile, put the vehicle in reverse, and then sped forward upon seeing a police cruiser responding to the accident. She described the vehicle as a bigger, older model, gold colored automobile.
John Panagis, passing by on his way to a church outing, saw from a distance a man slumped over the steering wheel of the truck. He then stopped to offer assistance. While approaching the scene, he saw a man come from the passenger side of the pickup and go around to the driver's side. John yelled, "Does he need an ambulance?" He testified that the person appeared very startled, then threw his hands up and responded, "[t]hey need an ambulance." He described the man as tall and slender, with light brown hair, wearing glasses and a waist-length, nylon workmen's or hunter's jacket. His description of the vehicle was a "goldish" colored, two-tone, mid-size automobile. A day or so later, he saw a picture in the newspaper and said to his wife, "Boy, that sure looks like the guy that I saw that morning." Later, at May's Towing, Panagis failed to identify appellant's vehicle as the one he had spotted at the scene of the accident.
Judy Gerald testified that as she was driving down East Market Street toward Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where she worked, she saw a man coming around the back of an automobile that was light on the bottom with a dark top. Just before the man reached the corner of the vehicle, he put his right hand out to get into the automobile, his left hand was across his body and "[h]e wasn't wasting any time." She also testified that the man was average height, with white or gray colored hair, and was wearing glasses and a light colored, three-quarter length coat and dark pants. A day or so later, she saw appellant's photograph in the newspaper, and exclaimed to her husband, "Oh my God, I saw this man Saturday morning."
Detective Sergeant Gary Bacon, of the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department, related that when he arrived at the scene he found the victims inside the truck, lying amid an excessive amount of blood, and called for two ambulances. After talking to Mr. and Mrs. Bishop and Mr. Gaffey, he later called Joe Robinson, the owner of Med Star Ambulance, to tell him what had happened to Shirley. Robinson, who had already heard about the accident, advised Bacon that Shirley was in the midst of divorce proceedings and was dating Sawtelle. Robinson also told him that appellant drove an early eighties, "goldish" colored Mercury Marquis.
Sergeant Peter Lucic, also employed by the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department, heard the radio messages as the events unfolded, and after responding to another call, drove to appellant's address(fn2) in search of the golden colored Mercury Marquis that the witnesses had seen. He advised Deputy Staccine, who was following him, that he should go to that area, too. After doing a drive-by observation and seeing a vehicle in the driveway matching the description given by the witnesses, he went on to conduct a surveillance of appellant's residence while awaiting backup. Deputy Staccine situated his cruiser to the east of appellant's residence, while Sergeant Lucic positioned his cruiser to the west side of the house. He observed that the automobile in question did not have any snow or frost on it, with the exception of a small line of snow on the rear bumper. He also saw appellant exit the residence, sweep snow off another vehicle, walk around to the rear of the Mercury Marquis, open the trunk, and while looking over his right shoulder, remove a brown object, approximately eight to twelve inches in length, and stick the object either inside his coat or his pants. Appellant then closed the trunk and reentered the residence. He later noticed fresh tire tracks leading to the Mercury Marquis and three sets of tennis shoe prints, including one fresh set leading from the residence to the driver's side door of the Mercury Marquis.
Upon the arrival of Detective Bacon and other backup officers, Sergeant Lucic yelled for appellant to come out of the house. Appellant's son came to the door and let the officers in the residence. Lucic found appellant seated at his kitchen table, advised him of his Miranda rights, and placed him under arrest. Appellant inquired whether Sawtelle and Shirley were alright. He stated that he did not have anything to do with the shootings, that he had been at Janet Sawtelle's house until 1:30 or 2:00 a.m., had come straight home, awakened around 7:00 a.m., and had not left the house. He told Lucic that he knew that if anything happened, that the authorities would come looking for him.
Officer Lucic obtained two signed consent to search forms from appellant for the residence and the vehicle. The officers then searched appellant's home; the vehicle was searched later at May's Towing.
State's witness, Trooper Gary Hetzel with the State Highway Patrol, presented testimony reconstructing the accident and offered his expert opinion of the manner in which appellant caused the accident between his vehicle and Robert Sawtelle's truck. John Allard, another state's witness and the crime laboratory supervisor for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation ("BCI"), opined that a paint chip found on appellant's vehicle was consistent with the paint on the victim's truck.
Appellant's counsel called several experts from the BCI who testified that the physical evidence linking appellant to the crime scene was inconclusive. Jeffrey Lynn, investigator for the BCI, testified that a test for gunshot residue on a...
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