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February 13, 2008
Posted: 06:03 PM ET
CANTON, Ohio — Day two of jury deliberations and not a peep from the six men and six women deciding the fate of Bobby Cutts Jr. The former Canton, Ohio, police officer is facing murder charges in the slaying of his pregnant girlfriend, Jessie Davis, last June. Cutts’ trial is taking place in the same city he patrolled for six years. Cutts, more accustomed to testifying for the prosecution, took the stand on Monday in his defense and described the killing as accidental. He said he panicked when Davis fell after he elbowed her in the throat. Cutts faced a tenacious prosecutor who challenged this explanation and his behavior after the killing, when he drove 25 miles and dumped her body in a park. Perhaps some on the jury are grappling with this explanation of an “accident.” As I write this, they’ve been deliberating nearly nine hours. Perhaps the jurors are still absorbing the 84 pages of jury instructions, replete with complicated legal definitions, and the 21 pages of verdict forms, each form to be signed by each juror. Yesterday, shortly after I arrived at the courthouse, I met the attorneys and some family members from both sides. As I sat in the hall outside the locked courtroom, I watched Cutts’ mother and Davis’s father in a close, face-to-face discussion too far away to be within earshot. At the end of what appeared to be an intense dialogue, the two embraced. Not only do they share this tragedy but they share a grandchild. Cutts and Davis have a 3-year-old son, Blake, who now lives with Davis’ mother. When she died, Davis was just a few weeks away from giving birth to their daughter. If, and only if, the jury returns a guilty verdict to the top charge of aggravated murder and finds at least one of the three “specifications” exists, there will be a penalty phase, scheduled to begin February 25. The state is seeking the death penalty. But this jury will have four choices: death, life without parole, 30 years to life or 25 years to life. Meanwhile, the wait continues. – Beth Karas, In Session correspondent Filed under: Beth Karas Trials Verdict Watch |
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