Tuesday, November 09, 1999
Doan's lawyer asks court to overturn conviction
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — The attorneys for the man convicted of killing Carrie Culberson, a 22-year-old Blanchester woman who disappeared in 1996, asked an appeals court Monday to overturn his conviction.
The jury that convicted Vincent Doan in 1997 of kidnapping and murdering Ms. Culberson, his girlfriend, improperly based its verdicts on statements from witnesses who said Ms. Culberson had told them that he beat her on several occasions, said Kort Gatterdam, a public defender who's representing Mr. Doan in the appeal.
“About half of the (prosecution) witnesses testified about hearsay statements,” he told the 12th District Court of Appeals. “This was the bulk of their case. They had no other evidence.”
The attorneys for Mr. Doan's half-brother, Tracey Baker, also argued Monday that Mr. Baker's conviction in a separate trial for helping cover up the crime also should be overturned.
The appeals court judges took the arguments for both cases under advisement and will issue rulings later.
Mr. Doan is serving a life sentence, and Mr. Baker is serving an eight-year sentence.
Ms. Culberson's body was never found.
About 20 relatives and friends of the two men attended the appeals court hearing.
Their father, Lawrence Baker, said he was hopeful that the convictions in both cases would be overturned.
“But I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched,” said Mr. Baker, who was acquitted last year of helping Mr. Doan cover up the murder.
Richard Moyer, assistant Clinton County prosecuting attorney, told the appeals court that Mr. Doan's conviction should be upheld.
He said the statements of witnesses who said Ms. Culberson told them Mr. Doan had beaten her helped establish the circumstances of the crime and to explain a motive. There was nothing improper about those statments, he said.
“The trial court has broad discretion for allowing out-of-court statements into evidence,” Mr. Moyer said.
Fred Miller, Tracey Bak er's lawyer, said the prosecution's key witness — Lori Baker, Tracey Baker's ex-wife — should not have been permitted to testify because she was Mr. Baker's common-law wife at the time of Ms. Culberson's disappearance. They were divorced, but later began living together.
The law exempts spouses from testifying against each other and allows the defendant to prohibit his spouse from testifying, Mr. Miller said.
“Without her there was no case,” Mr. Miller said.
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