Friday, July 09, 1999
New-trial petition says Bible led jury
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Before recommending a death sentence for Elwood Jones, his jurors had been asked to review hundreds of pages of crime-scene evidence, scientific tests and statements from police.
But it was a Bible, his attorneys say, that sealed Mr. Jones' fate.
A petition filed by the Ohio public defender's office claims a juror used a Bible or written scriptures from the Bible to persuade two other jurors to vote for a death sentence.
“A Bible in the jury room is such a violation,” said attorney Cathy Adams, who represented Mr. Jones at his murder trial. “It would make a tremendous difference.”
It is the second time this year a controversy over the Bible has arisen in a major criminal case in Hamilton County
In the latest case, an investigator for the public defender says in a sworn statement that a juror told him the Bible played a part in the verdict.
According to the statement, two jurors were holding out for a life sentence until a fellow juror with a Bible persuaded them to change their minds.
“(The) juror brought into the jury deliberation room either a Christian Bible or written Bible scriptures to explain to us why this type of sentence was acceptable within our Christian beliefs,” the statement said.
“This juror had extensive
knowledge of the Bible and utilized this knowledge during the deliberations to persuade them to vote for the death penalty.”
Although the petition seeks to overturn Mr. Jones' death sentence, Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said the public defender's allegations are not enough to reopen the case.
He said Ohio law does not allow jurors to testify about their own deliberations unless there is evidence from other sources to support their claims.
A 1990 Ohio Supreme Court decision concluded that the law is necessary to “protect the finality” of verdicts and to ensure jurors are not harassed by the losing parties.
While jurors are not supposed to consult material that is not admitted as evidence, Mr. Allen said the claim regarding the Bible does not shake his confidence in the verdict.
“They don't have any credible evidence that it happened,” Mr. Allen said.
In the public defender's petition, which has been filed in Common Pleas Court, Mr. Jones' attorneys argue that consulting the Bible is a clear violation of Ohio law.
“The introduction of religion during the sentencing phase of a capital trial allows evidence that falls outside the legal guidelines,” the petition states.
To support their argument, the attorneys cite the case of convicted rapist James Arnett, a Cincinnati man whose 51-year sentence was overturned because his judge consulted the Bible.
Mr. Arnett's case caused an up roar over what role, if any, the Bible should play in criminal cases. Prosecutors contend the judge did nothing wrong and have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to reinstate the original sentence.
In Mr. Jones' case, the stakes are even higher, because he received a death sentence.
The jury of seven men and five women convicted him three years ago in the robbery and beating death of Rhoda Nathan, a grandmother from New Jersey.
Mr. Jones, 46, worked at the Blue Ash hotel where Mrs. Nathan was killed and was linked to the crime when police found the victim's necklace in his car.
Mr. Jones maintained his innocence and said the necklace was planted or manipulated by police to implicate him.
Prosecutors also argued that a cut on Mr. Jones' hand was a bite wound infected with a bacteria commonly found in the human mouth. Mrs. Nathan's injuries included a punch to the mouth.
Following his conviction, the jury met again for the sentencing. During this phase, jurors are asked to review the evidence to determine whether the defendant deserves a death sentence.
After seven hours of deliberations, the jury recommended death. Judge Ralph Winkler followed that recommendation.
The public defender's petition contends that two jurors had refused to vote for a death sentence because of their “religious beliefs.”
At some point, it states, a third juror brought in the Bible to persuade them otherwise.
Only two of the jurors are named in the petition, and neither could be reached for comment.
The petition also does not include a statement from any of the jurors, only from investigator Mike Hess. A spokesman for the public defender's office declined comment on the case.
Mr. Hess said in his statement that he first learned of the Bible's role in the case when he spoke to one of the jurors in 1997.
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