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Thread: Jocquez Ross Sentenced to 43 Years to Life in 2017 OH Murder of Michael Lewis and his Wife, Fannie Lewis

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    Jocquez Ross Sentenced to 43 Years to Life in 2017 OH Murder of Michael Lewis and his Wife, Fannie Lewis



    Fannie and Michael Lewis





    Murder suspect getting speedy trial, loses lead attorney

    By Scott Mahoney
    The Chronicle

    ELYRIA — Moments after attorney Kreig Brusnahan’s motion to withdraw as counsel in the capital murder case of Jocquez Ross was granted, an unidentified woman in the courtroom gallery told him he shouldn’t “be a quitter.”

    Brusnahan turned around in his chair at the counsel table to face her.

    “I take great umbrage at that statement,” he said to the woman. “I’m not a quitter, but I’m not a co-pilot on this kamikaze mission, either. Look it up.”

    The attorney, who was the first-chair counsel on the death penalty case of Ross, 28, of Lorain, withdrew from the case when his now-former client told Judge Christopher Rothgery that he would no longer be waiving his right to a speedy trial, meaning that the trial must begin within 90 days.

    “My understanding is that he (Ross) is not willing to waive (his speedy trial rights), going forward. That puts me in an untenable situation,” Brusnahan said. “I cannot, in good conscience, continue to represent him without having the appropriate amount of time to investigate, do mitigation research, to have the appropriate mitigation expert appointed, to have the psychologist appointed to do a psychological evaluation and to basically properly prepare the mitigation case, should it be necessary.”

    Ross was indicted in January 2017 on aggravated murder and other charges in connection with the fatal shootings of Michael Lewis and his wife, Fannie Lewis. If convicted, Ross could face the death penalty.

    Last week, defense attorneys and prosecutors in the case were planning to set a trial date of January 2020 until Ross informed Brusnahan of his decision to no longer waive time in the case.

    While it’s been more than two years since Ross’ indictment, Brusnahan and his co-counsel, Kimberly Corral, cannot be blamed for the delay, Brusnahan has said. Brusnahan was appointed to the case in September and Corral was appointed in October, according to court records.

    Prior to that, Ross had retained attorneys Jack Bradley and Michael Stepanik to represent him in the matter. However, prosecutors notified the court that they had become aware of a potential conflict of interest and asked that both defense attorneys be disqualified from the case.

    According to court documents, Bradley had represented Michael Lewis on a drug-trafficking case in 2009. Stepanik was representing Michael Lewis on a drug-trafficking case at the time of the man’s death. Stepanik had previously represented both Fannie Lewis and Michael Lewis’ mother, who was a potential witness in the Ross case.

    The court granted the motion to disqualify, but then an appeal on the decision was filed on Ross’ behalf with the 9th District Court of Appeals. The appeals court eventually upheld Rothgery’s decision to disqualify Bradley, and Brusnahan was appointed to the case.

    During the hearing Tuesday, Ross told Rothgery that he felt he already had withdrawn his time waiver.

    “To my knowledge, in open court, Mike Stepanik stated that I refused to sign a time waiver and I withdrew my time waiver during the months of May and October 2017,” Ross said. “The last time I signed a time waiver was in, I believe, May 2017. Mike Stepanik let the court know that I refused to waive any more time.”

    Rothgery said there was no record of a withdrawal of the waiver in the court records.

    “I believe he (Stepanik) indicated, and my court reporter will go back and check this, that you refused to sign it, though you had previously signed,” Rothgery said. “He did not indicate that you were withdrawing your previous time waiver, but we will review it.”

    The judge then leveled with Ross.

    “Understanding that that is your right under the laws of Ohio, the Constitution of Ohio, the Constitution of the United States, here’s what I’ve got to tell you,” Rothgery said. “What you’re seeing right now with Mr. Brusnahan is what we’ve encountered in every phone call we’ve made so far. No lawyer wants to preside over this sinking ship. Do you know why I call it a sinking ship? Because these are the most demanding, time-expending, soul-eating cases lawyers handle. They’re the toughest, requiring the most work, the most effort and the most training of any cases that a defense lawyer handles.”

    Rothgery said that all the attorneys he had spoken to up to that point had said they didn’t believe they could be ready to try a capital murder case in less than 90 days and thought that their doing so would be committing “malpractice.”

    The judge then told Ross that during his time as a defense attorney and as a judge, he’s seen many people decide to no longer waive time or withdraw a time waiver.

    “You know who I’ve seen it for? O.J. Simpson,” Rothgery said. “If you happen to have millions of dollars laying around for jury consultants, private psychologists and mitigation experts who are willing to drop everything and work around the clock between now and May, if you have millions of dollars laying around to hire four or five lawyers, a dozen investigators, that might not be a bad idea. It worked out for O.J. But I’m going to tell you who I’ve seen it work out for since then and before then: nobody, ever.”

    Rothgery also questioned why Ross had decided to no longer waive his speedy trial rights.

    “I’m not sure where your thought process is … but if you think you’re going to make things tough on these guys (the prosecutors in the case), yeah, to a certain extent (maybe you will),” Rothgery said. “But guess what they have. They have a case that came to them from the police, investigated and with a great deal of the work done already. They have an office full of attorneys. I don’t know what is it, 30 or 40 attorneys? They have a half-dozen investigators that are former police officers. They have the entire Elyria Police Department. They have all the weapons.

    “You have two lawyers in the one case we give people two lawyers, who are going to (be) scratching and clawing to, even if we had the January date, get all the information together that they need to defend this case. It would be tight in January.”

    Ross then told Rothgery he still wanted to withdraw his time waiver. Rothgery then granted Brusnahan’s motion to withdraw as counsel. Corral said she would remain on as second-chair counsel.

    A trial date of May 6 was set, which means Ross now has his speedy trial, but he doesn’t have an attorney to sit as lead counsel on his case. Rothgery said he and his staff would work on finding an attorney for Ross.

    “What I’m trying to tell you is that at some point I hope to find an attorney to be lead counsel on this case, but it ain’t going to be easy,” Rothgery said.

    “It’s probably not going to be anybody from this county. We’ll have to go to another county. We’ve looked at Erie County and Medina County — nobody there. It’s probably going to have to be somebody else from Cuyahoga County, but I don’t know who because so far all of the ones we’ve talked to have said they can’t do it.”

    http://www.chroniclet.com/news/2019/...edy-trial.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    2016 Elyria murder trial delayed to Nov. 5

    By Scott Mahoney
    The Chronicle

    ELYRIA — In February, Jocquez Ross decided he didn’t want to wait any longer for his capital murder trial in connection with the slaying of Michael and Fanny Lewis and withdrew his time waiver, setting up a trial date of May 6.

    On Wednesday, though, the trial was pushed back to November, after a hearing on a motion filed by Ross’ defense attorneys asking for the trial date to delayed, despite the fact their client still didn’t want to waive his right to a speedy trial.

    Ross was indicted in January 2017 on aggravated murder and other charges in connection with the fatal shootings of Michael Lewis and his wife, Fannie Lewis. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

    After several delays, the case seemed set for a trial date of January 2020, until Ross told his attorney at the time, Kreig Brusnahan, that he no longer wanted to waive his right to a speedy trial and the May trial date was set. Brusnahan promptly filed a motion to withdraw as counsel from the case, which was granted.

    Days later, the court appointed Michael Camera as first-chair counsel in Ross’ death penalty case. Kimberly Corral, who was appointed around the same time as Brusnahan, said she would continue to sit as second-chair counsel on the case.

    During the hearing in February, Judge Christopher Rothgery explained to Ross why he believed it was a bad decision to not waive time in the trial and force his defense team to rush to trial. Ross was adamant that he wanted a speedy trial, though.

    On Wednesday, a hearing was held in front of Rothgery on a motion filed by the defense team to continue the trial date. Corral explained to Rothgery that she and Camera were running into issues with investigating, mitigation research and getting psychologists appointed to do evaluations prior to the trial date.

    “We’re just not in the position where we’re prepared to go forward in a month,” Corral said.

    When Rothgery asked if Ross was willing to waive his right to a speedy trial, Corral said he wasn’t.

    “We’re aware of that, but we believe the law allows this court to continue the case because the time is reasonably tolled under the statute, even without his agreement,” Corral said.

    Corral argued that several motions in the case have tolled time, or stopped the clock on the 90 days for Ross’ speedy trial rights until the motions are ruled on.

    Rothgery, though, said he felt the problems the defense team faced were the result of their client’s decision.

    “I guess the problem I have here is that each and every thing that you just described, I described to your client at the time he withdrew the time waiver,” Rothgery said.

    The judge said it’s difficult to balance the defendant’s right to a speedy trial and also his right to effective representation.

    “There’s no easy answer, so I have to fall back on my judicial philosophy, which tends toward more libertarian and allowing people to make choices I might believe to be mistakes,” Rothgery said. “I thought I made it very clear what I thought of Mr. Ross’ choice, and he’s chosen to disregard that.”

    Rothgery then denied the motion, and said the trial date would remain May 6.

    However, after the conclusion of the hearing, Camera and Corral spoke with their client once again and convinced him to agree to a limited time waiver, which would ensure the trial would begin by Nov. 15. Prosecutors said they wouldn’t fight the defense on pushing back the trial date, so Rothgery granted the motion, and set a new trial date of Nov. 5.

    Ross is accused of shooting Michael and Fannie Lewis in their rented Chevrolet Traverse on Fox Hill Lane on Jan. 31, 2016. Elyria police responding to reports of gunshots found the couple dead of gunshot wounds.

    Police and prosecutors have said little about the motive for the slaying, although they believe the couple was targeted. They also have said they were examining a connection with drugs because Michael Lewis had been under indictment on drug charges at the time of his death.

    Ross is being held in Lorain County Jail without bond, according to jail records.

    http://www.chroniclet.com/Local-News...-to-Nov-5.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Trial in 2016 Elyria double murder starts in Common Pleas Court

    By Dave O'Brien
    The Chronicle-Telegram

    ELYRIA — A Lorain man is going to trial this week in the double-slaying of a married couple in Elyria in 2016.

    Jury selection got underway before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery on Monday afternoon in the case against 29-year-old Jocquez Ross, who is possibly facing the death penalty.

    Ross is accused of shooting and killing Michael and Fannie Lewis as they sat in a rented Chevrolet Traverse on Fox Hill Lane in Elyria on Jan. 31, 2016. He is being held on $2 million bond in Lorain County Jail, charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability.

    Elyria police said they believe the couple was targeted, but have not released a motive. Ross was a member of the "Money Over Everything" gang, which was dealing drugs in the area, police said.

    Defense attorneys Kimberly Kendall Corral and Michael Camera are defending Ross — the fourth and fifth attorneys to have been assigned to his defense. The prosecution team includes assistant Lorain County Prosecutors Tony Cillo and Laura Dezort.

    In a motion hearing prior to the beginning of jury selection on Monday, Rothgery denied prosecutors' request to have Corral removed from the case over allegations she and her client tampered with a prosecution witness.

    However, he also ruled that prosecutors will be able to use hearsay testimony from that same witness against Ross, ruling that Ross had "engaged in a pattern of wrongdoing" to try and prevent the woman from testifying against him.

    That's a hearsay exception called forfeiture by wrongdoing. It means a statement may be used against a defendant because the defendant has, by misconduct, made that witness unavailable to testify. It could be used, for example, if a defendant had a witness killed or threatened to prevent their testimony.

    The witness' testimony will therefore not be subject to hearsay objections by Ross' attorneys.

    Cillo said there were questions about contact the woman had with Ross, whom he alleged "wore her down based on his wrong actions" so she would not testify against him and alleged that he tried to set her up with an attorney from the same law firm that is representing him.

    Corral called that allegation "preposterous," saying she told the witness to contact her own attorney after the woman texted her "out of the blue."

    She also denied her client had tried to influence the witness in phone calls or other contact while being held in jail.

    "Does my client say crazy crap on the phone I wish he didn't? Certainly," Corral told Rothgery.

    Joseph Patituce, the attorney for the witness, is a member of the same law firm as Corral but told Rothgery the two have not discussed the case and their files are kept separate from each other.

    He also said that he doesn't have a stake in Ross' guilt or innocence and that his firm had done nothing wrong.

    "What happens to him, happens to him," Patituce said of Ross.

    "There's some accusation I'm a tool of a capital defendant and I'm a former prosecutor. I'm not going to risk my law license" by violating ethics rules, he added.

    Patituce also told Rothgery his client would be asserting her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the witness stand unless prosecutors offered her immunity from prosecution.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/204660/t...n-pleas-court/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Prosecutor: 2016 Elyria double murder a 'hit' by angry rival drug dealers

    By Dave O'Brien
    The Chronicle-Telegram

    ELYRIA — The January 2016 killings of Michael "LuLu" Lewis and Fannie Thomas-Lewis had "all the hallmarks of a hit."

    "Just a good, old-fashioned hit," Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo told a Lorain County Common Pleas jury Tuesday as he opened the state's case against an alleged gang member accused of shooting and killing two competitors.

    Jocquez Ross, 29, of Lorain, faces charges of aggravated murder, felonious assault, having weapons under disability and tampering with evidence. He is being held in the Lorain County Jail on $2 million bond.

    Both Michael "LuLu" Lewis and Fannie Thomas-Lewis were executed, shot twice each from behind including at least once each in the head, Cillo said. Michael Lewis, 32, was in the driver's seat of a rented Chevrolet Traverse SUV with New York plates, and Fannie Thomas-Lewis, 22, was in the passenger seat when they were found dead on the rainy evening of Jan. 31, 2016.

    Both had slumped toward the middle of the front seat and at first appeared to be asleep, one witness told police.

    Further investigation by Elyria police later revealed that Michael Lewis and his wife were "large-scale drug dealers," Cillo said. Half a kilogram of heroin was found in one of their apartments, and another half-kilogram and $90,000 found in another apartment they used, he said.

    And despite Ross being the only one to go to trial so far for the killings and "in it up to his eyeballs," Cillo said, prosecutors aren't claiming he acted alone.

    It was also believed by competing drug dealers that Michael Lewis was a "snitch," informing police about the illegal activities of other drug dealers, Cillo said.

    Shaundale "Tug" Brown and his brother, Marquel "Punkin'" Brown, believed Lewis had informed on them for dealing drugs after Shaundale Brown was arrested while in possession of more than 750 grams of cocaine, he said.

    Ross, who also goes by "Joc" or "King Joc" may have offered to rob the Lewises on behalf of the Brown brothers, Cillo said. All three men were believed to be part of a drug gang known as "Money Over Everything" that was the focus of a major drug investigation by Elyria police later in 2016.

    (Shaundale Brown, 31, is serving an eight-year sentence for drug crimes in Mansfield Correction Institution. Marquel Brown, 30, is serving his own seven-year sentence in a federal prison in Pennsylvania as well as a concurrent two-year prison sentence for felony drug crimes out of Lorain County, according to court records).

    The Brown brothers also have a sister, Myesha Anderson, whom Cillo said lent Ross a gun and on Jan. 20, 2016, texted him that she wanted it back.

    Ross replied that he "still needs it" — only 11 days before the Lewises were murdered, Cillo said in court.

    Cillo said evidence will show Ross' alibi that he was playing basketball at North Rec in Elyria the night of the killing is false. Ross, his relatives and friends also allegedly tried to get Ross' girlfriend to give him an alibi through jail calls, letters and intermediaries until she and her attorney approached prosecutors with evidence Ross tried to manipulate her, he said.

    "Don't trust your lawyer" and "Keep your (expletive) mouth shut," were some of the messages Ross sent Brooke Nolen, Cillo said in court. He also pleaded with her to help him get out of jail — even asking an acquaintance to lie and tell Nolen that Ross had tried to kill himself in jail to elicit sympathy, prosecutors allege.

    In a brief opening statement, defense attorney Michael Camera said the state has nothing to link Ross to the killings.

    "There's no fingerprints, there's no DNA, there's no admissions, there's no evidence connecting my client to the murders," he said.

    Prosecutors "have this person saying this, and this person saying that" but no hard evidence, Camera said.

    Camera said evidence does show Shaundale and Marquel Brown were "really, really mad at Michael Lewis" because "the word on the street is Michael Lewis is a snitch."

    Shaundale Brown, he said, had bought cocaine from Michael Lewis and Fannie Thomas-Lewis -- the same cocaine police later found in the trunk of his Chevrolet Camaro.

    Because of that, the Browns thought Michael Lewis "snitched them out," giving them a motive to have him silenced, Camera told jurors.

    Otherwise, the state's case "revolves around supposition and people's statements who may or may not be believable," he said.

    Following opening statements, members of the jury did a walking tour around the apartment complex parking lot where the Lewises' bodies were found.

    Bailiff Rob Bennett pointed out the intersecting roads and a couple of specific apartments to the jurors, who were under umbrellas in the rain — similar to the weather conditions Elyria police were confronted with when they arrived on the scene shortly after 10 p.m.

    Prosecutors and defense attorneys followed behind the jury to observe what is called a jury view. Elyria police officers provided security.

    Back in court, the prosecution opened its case with the original 911 caller and several Elyria police officers who were first on scene or called to the scene that night.

    Mitchell Orr called 911 to report he heard "three to four shots" just after 10 p.m. Looking outside his apartment, he said he saw a black male about 5 feet 7 inches or 5 feet 8 inches tall with either bushy hair or a hat on get out of the Traverse and run off.

    As the man tried to run from the scene, he tripped over his own pants and fell face-first to the asphalt before getting up and running off. Orr testified the man was wearing a dark hoodie, dark pants and had green underwear on, and shortly after that saw a Ford Escape leave the apartment complex from the same direction in which the suspected shooter had run.

    Officer Joseph Figula Jr., a night shift patrol officer who also is a certified crime scene technician, and a trainee officer were first on the scene, Figula testified. He recalled checking Michael and Fannie Lewis for signs of life, but found none, he testified.

    The SUV, with the Lewises' bodies inside, was towed to the Elyria Police Department to get it out of the rain. It was processed for evidence in a garage there because "rain can destroy evidence," Figula testified.

    Officers found three 9 mm shell casings on the floor of the SUV, as well as a spent bullet, blood evidence, several water bottles, three cellphones and Fannie Thomas-Lewis' purse, which contained more than $740 in cash and a fourth cellphone.

    A total of $1,500 was found in the car and Thomas-Lewis also had jewelry on, Cillo said. The valuables left behind led detectives to rule out robbery as a motive for the slayings, he said.

    Over the next two years, detectives also extracted digital evidence from the cellphones found in the car as well as Ross' cellphone and more than half a dozen other phones using search warrants and owners' consent, former Elyria police detective Dan Sumpter testified.

    He testified that he, other Elyria detectives and the Internet Crimes Against Children task force did multiple searches for another cellphone they believed Ross discarded in a wooded area near Black River High Meadows and the old Elyria Walmart soon after the murders, but never found it.

    Ross was charged with the murders in January 2017, while being held in the Lorain County Jail on drug charges related to the Money Over Everything gang.

    Because the death penalty is a possibility if Ross is found guilty, the jury first will decide if Ross is guilty. If he is convicted of aggravated murder, the trial will enter a second sentencing phase where jurors will vote whether to recommend the death penalty.

    Testimony resumes at 1 p.m. today.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/205925/p...-drug-dealers/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Capital murder trial suspended due to coronavirus concerns

    ELYRIA — A week into testimony in the case, the capital murder trial of Jocquez Ross was suspended Tuesday over health and witness issues.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to do something I was praying I wouldn't have to do," Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery announced to the courtroom. "I'm going to have to continue this trial. It's something that I fought hard not to do, but at this point it's become clear that due to the current crisis that we're facing we're unable to go forward at this time."

    At least one expert witness for the prosecution currently is under quarantine due to the coronavirus, Rothgery and attorneys said.

    "I don't want to expose you or the lawyers or anybody in this case to that, and the last thing I want to do is stop this trial," Rothgery said. "But we've also been informed by the CDC that we're not supposed to have gatherings of more than 10 people, and we obviously are."

    Other witnesses in the case are coming from outside the area to testify and are unable to travel at the insistence of their employers, while others have health concerns that would make traveling dangerous at this time.

    There are 15 people on the jury, four or five attorneys, the judge, at least three other court staff, two deputies for security, multiple witnesses and a number of spectators passing through the courtroom each day — though there have been a shrinking number of spectators each day the trial has gone on.

    Ross, 29, of Lorain, is on trial for the murders of Michael "LuLu" Lewis and Fannie Thomas-Lewis in Elyria in 2016. He faces the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.

    Rothgery admonished jurors not to talk about the trial for the next three weeks or to read any coverage of it in newspapers, to avoid TV news and avoid any mentions of the case online. He encouraged them to be well and take care of their families in the meantime.

    Following an emergency judges meeting Monday afternoon — only the second one Rothgery said had taken place in 15 years — court officials announced restrictions to minimize the spread of the virus, which already has four diagnosed cases in the county, including limiting courts to essential duties and using phone or video conferences whenever possible.

    Rothgery said Monday after the judges' meeting that it was up to his discretion whether to continue the trial, and he ruled that it would go on at that time.

    "Everything here says we need to take a break, and I absolutely am crestfallen that we have to do this," Rothgery said, calling himself "the last judge" who would want to have to make the decision.

    He told jurors they had worked hard and "sacrificed" to be part of the legal process, having sat through a week worth of jury selection and 15 witnesses so far.

    "I've barely seen a jury with a better attitude than you folks," Rothgery told them, calling them "hardy" and attentive to the evidence.

    Court staff will stay in contact with jurors to make sure they are healthy, not quarantined and to give them "a gentle reminder of admonitions" not to discuss the case while on break, Rothgery said.

    He also gave the jurors a more stern warning, letting them know he is one of few judges — in Ohio at least — who had previously jailed a juror for misconduct. In this case, he said he would be "hard-pressed not to" put a juror in jail if one of them violated his orders.

    Earlier on in the trial, Rothgery also said he would order any juror who violated his rules to pay the cost of selecting a new jury if a mistrial were necessary based on juror misconduct. That fine could end up in the thousands of dollars, he said at the time.

    "No homework, no nothing," Rothgery said Tuesday. "Do whatever you need to do to take care of your family."

    Barring any further delays, testimony is expected to resume April 6.

    It is unclear what kind of precedent the suspension of the trial might set. Defense attorney Michael Camera said he couldn't remember a similar situation except in a previous trial where the need for translation of witness statements from Spanish to English delayed hearings in a trial in Judge Mark Betleski's courtroom for a week.

    In this case, the court is dealing with a national health emergency, he noted.

    Co-defense counsel Kimberly Kendall Corral said she likewise was unaware of a trial where such a break had taken place. In one case she said she researched, a mistrial was declared in a trial taking place in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, following the 9/11 terror attacks.

    Camera said he didn't see an immediate issue for appeal based solely on the suspension of the trial, but would stay aware for any issues that might prejudice his client.

    All other trials in Common Pleas Court have been postponed at least until April 13, judges decided Monday.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/206779/c...irus-concerns/
    "How do you get drunk on death row?" - Werner Herzog

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    Jocquez Ross trial now postponed to June 1 because of pandemic

    The Chronicle-Telegram

    A death penalty trial already postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been pushed back again, this time for two additional months.

    Jocquez Ross, 29, of Lorain, was on trial for murder in Lorain County Common Pleas Court and facing the death penalty if convicted in the deaths of couple Michael "LuLu" Lewis and Fannie Thomas-Lewis in Elyria in 2016.

    Both were shot while sitting in a parked car on Fox Hill Lane on Jan. 31 of that year.

    According to a entry in the court record last week, Judge Christopher Rothgery postponed further evidence and hearings in the trial until June 1.

    "... the public health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, all warrant the continuance of the trial, previously scheduled in this matter on Monday, April 6, to Monday, June 1, 2020 at 8:30 a.m." the entry reads.

    Rothgery originally told the jury and involved parties March 17 that they would not be expected to return to court until Monday, April 6. Along with public health concerns over gatherings larger than 10 people, Rothgery said a prosecution witness was in quarantine over the virus and other scheduled witnesses were not allowed to travel by order of their employers or had health concerns that made them susceptible to the virus.

    Rothgery said March 17 he was "crestfallen" and "the last judge" who would want to make such a decision. He reminded the jurors not to talk about the case with anyone while on break from hearing evidence.

    Ross remains in the Lorain County Jail, on $2 million bond.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/208857/j...e-of-pandemic/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Jocquez Ross death penalty trial now postponed until August

    The Chronicle-Telegram

    ELYRIA — The murder trial of Jocquez Ross, accused of shooting and killing an Elyria couple in 2016, has been postponed again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Court records show the trial will now resume Aug. 6. Ross, who is charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability, remains in Lorain County Jail on $2 million bond.

    The case against Ross, 29, of Lorain, was in progress on March 17 when public health concerns forced Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery to postpone the case first to April 6, then again to June 1.

    Ross faces the death penalty if convicted in the deaths of Michael "LuLu" Lewis and Fannie Thomas-Lewis. They were shot and killed in a parked car on Fox Hill Lane on Jan. 31, 2016.

    The trial already was facing up to a two-week delay because a prosecution witness was quarantined after exposure to the coronavirus, and some witnesses were forbidden to travel due to the outbreak or had health concerns that made them susceptible to the virus.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/213738/j...-until-august/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Jocquez Ross murder trial begins after five-month break with COVID precautions

    By Dave O'Brien
    The Chronicle-Telegram

    ELYRIA — After a nearly five-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the double murder trial of Jocquez Ross of Lorain started up again Thursday in a new atmosphere of concern for the health and safety of those involved.

    Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery's courtroom had a much different look to it on Thursday: Plexiglass shields for the defense attorneys and their client, prosecutors and an Elyria police detective and mobile plastic shielding separating each juror in the jury box.

    "As a result of the continuing pandemic affecting our state, county and country, at this point we're going to go forward and do our best to continue this trial," Rothgery told the participants, out of the jury's earshot.

    He also asked the attorneys to limit their movements in the courtroom, not call for unnecessary conferences at the bench or approach witnesses on the stand — which will be sanitized after each witness completes their testimony — unless absolutely necessary.

    "I don't think anybody is going to be able to try this case like they tried cases in the past," Rothgery said.

    Each juror and all the participants, as well as a Chronicle-Telegram reporter, were provided plastic face shields and KN95 face masks to wear while in the courtroom. Rothgery told them and jurors that they could wear either the plastic face shield or the face mask while seated, but if they got up to move around or approach a witness or other participant, they would have to wear both.

    All the attorneys chose the clear plastic face shields while posing questions to Thursday's first witness, a Bureau of Criminal Identification analyst who testified about the swabs taken for DNA analysis by Elyria police at the murder scene in 2016.

    Witnesses also were asked to wear the plastic face shield but not the face mask so that jurors could see their entire faces as they testified.

    Ross, 29, faces the death penalty if convicted in the deaths of Michael "LuLu" Lewis and his wife, Fannie Thomas, who were shot to death in a parked car on Fox Hill Lane near the Midway Mall in Elyria on Jan. 31, 2016.

    Ross, who is being held in the Lorain County Jail on $2 million bond, is charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability.

    After two weeks of testimony starting March 2, the case was postponed by Rothgery on March 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was set to resume June 1, then rescheduled again to begin Thursday.

    During the nearly five-month delay in the trial, court staff and other stakeholders planned for jury trials to resume in Lorain County by outfitting Rothgery's court with protective plastic screens and by consulting attorneys, the Lorain County Sheriff's Office and Lorain County Public Health on how best to proceed.

    Along with the court providing personal protective equipment to all participants and trial-watchers, it has ordered the courtroom to be cleaned during each lunch break and every night after testimony ends. Two separate rooms, one each for the victims' family and Ross' family, have been set up elsewhere in the Lorain County Justice Center to allow remote viewing of testimony.

    Prior to the jury being brought back into the courtroom, defense attorney Kimberly Kendall Corral objected "to the modifications to the courtroom," saying she had an obligation to her client.

    "We understand. However, we believe the fairest thing is for the trial to proceed as it was proceeding before the break," she told Rothgery. The plexiglass screens between them made it difficult to confer with both her co-counsel Michael Camera and Ross, she said.

    All the precautions, Corral added, "create a heightened awareness of the risk" posed by the virus. She also said Ross had not had his temperature taken before entering court.

    "My understanding was that it was taken. We checked that and were told that it did" get taken, the judge said.

    "Boy, that makes me unhappy," he added.

    Bailiff Rob Bennett then tested Ross' temperature with a touchless thermometer, and it was 97.1 degrees.

    Before overruling her objection, Rothgery challenged Corral on it.

    "Well, what's your remedy for what you've suggested is the problem?" he asked. "I need to hear one. Either I put the public at risk, or your client doesn't get a speedy trial. I can't just adjourn a case for years. Are you telling me I can? I can put this jury trial off for a year until we have a vaccine? That you want no masks, no plexiglass and no temperatures, even though you just objected to not having your client have his temperature taken?"

    Corral replied that she did not have a remedy.

    "My obligation is to my client," and to bring the matter to the court's attention, she said. "I believe that's my obligation as counsel."

    "Objection overruled," Rothgery said.

    Once the jury returned to the courtroom, the judge explained the precautions he was taking in much the same way.

    "We wouldn't have brought you back if we couldn't protect you," he told the jurors.

    He also informed jurors they could decide to wear just the plastic face shields or just the provided KN95 masks and said there also were gloves and hand sanitizer available. Three jurors decided to wear just the plastic face shields, and the rest chose the KN95 masks.

    "Remember that when you're in (the jury room), if someone has forgotten social distancing or masks and I've seen it, remind people we need to maintain that social distance for everybody's protection. Remember hand-washing, and we've got sanitizer and gloves for you," Rothgery told the jury. "Feel free to use it. We've got more. We've got plenty."

    Polling the jury, Rothgery then asked if any had tested positive for COVID-19 during their months-long break. None had. Jurors also said they had no close family members, coworkers or acquaintances who had tested positive, and none said they thought they had it or had symptoms.

    All also said they had not gained any outside information about the trial from newspapers, the internet, other media, or friends and family during the five-month break in testimony.

    The jurors unanimously agreed they were comfortable proceeding. Rothgery thanked them, while noting the pandemic has put the court in a difficult spot.

    "There is nothing we can do that is perfect here. But we're going to do our very best and lessen the possibility of the odds as much as possible," he said. "We're not in a situation where we can put everyone in a plastic bubble … This is an unusual situation, an unusual time, and we're doing a lot of unusual things physically and legally."

    During Thursday's testimony, BCI analysts gave evidence about DNA swabs collected from the Chevrolet Traverse in which the Lewises were found dead, as well as water bottles, a cigar tip and shell casings found inside the vehicle.

    Much of the DNA evidence, when tested, was a mixture of unknown male DNA or that of known persons including the Lewises and several unrelated people, a BCI analyst testified.

    Testimony resumes today.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/230875/j...d-precautions/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Calls between Ross, his ex played for jury in Elyria murder trial

    Murder defendant Jocquez Ross and his former girlfriend, Brooke Nolen, fought over the phone when he called her from jail several times in late 2016, according to recordings of those calls played in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Friday.

    Ross, 29, is alleged to have shot and killed Michael "LuLu" Lewis and his wife, Fannie Thomas-Lewis in a parked car on Fox Hill Lane near the Midway Mall in Elyria on Jan. 31, 2016. He is being held in the Lorain County Jail on $2 million bond on charges of aggravated murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability.

    Ross could get the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder and the jury and Judge Christopher Rothgery agree on such a sentence.

    Ross' alibi to police was that he was playing basketball at North Rec in Elyria the night of the killing, and he allegedly tried to get Nolen — a mother of five who has a child with Ross and a history of felony drug charges — to give him an alibi by asking family and friends to send her text messages and call her while he sent her letters and made phone calls from jail.

    "Don't trust your lawyer" and "Keep your (expletive) mouth shut," were some of the messages Ross sent or had sent by others to Nolen, Cillo said in March.

    In an interview nearly four years ago, Nolen told police she spent the weekend prior to the murders high on painkillers and marijuana because she had cut her wrist while drunkenly washing dishes. Ross was with her at least part of that time, she told them, but cellphone records placed him elsewhere for at least eight hours the day of the murders.

    In the recorded calls played Friday, Nolen was openly hostile toward Ross when he called, telling her she was "done" with him, called him a "liar" and accused him of cheating on her with multiple women.

    "I told you, don't look for me when you in a jam my (expletive)," she told him. "You're gonna serve a whole (expletive) bid. ... One day, you and me gonna be cool, but I'm not riding with you Joc."

    Ross also got a sexually transmitted infection from someone who wasn't Nolen, one of at least four and possibly five other women she accused him of cheating with, she said on the phone.

    "Where'd you get chlamydia?" she asked Ross. "Call that (expletive) or write her. I know you are. You're not my man. You're somebody else's ... But you couldn't keep your (expletive) in your pants."

    "You absolutely disgust me," Nolen told Ross on tape. "You're disgusting. That's how I look at you."

    "I'm sorry," Ross told her.

    "I've heard that before," Nolen replied, calling Ross "a sociopath."

    Nolen said she would beat forthcoming drug and child endangering charges she was facing. Ross also told someone, who was not immediately identified on the tape, to tell Nolen to deal with his lawyer to get her charges dismissed.

    "It's important she does this my way and not the other way because that's a lot of bull(expletive) involved that could be avoided," he said on one of the calls, dated Nov. 15, 2016, according to Elyria police Detective James Homoki, who was on the stand for the prosecution on Friday morning. "Tell her I love her and I really need her to work with me on this."

    In a call on Nov. 19, 2016, Ross said he would try to help Nolen by telling the judge in her drug case that she didn't know anything about drugs.

    "I'm telling the judge you didn't know," he told Nolen. "They can charge you but they can't convict you on the stuff you didn't know about."

    Nolen told Ross "you gotta cut this out."

    "All these calls, you gotta cut this (expletive), the letters and stuff. Everything you do and say is monitored. It's in your best interest," she told him, before again accusing him of cheating on her with other women, including drug addicts and a 17-year-old woman.

    "I hate you and want you to stop calling me," Nolen told him, starting to cry. "I'm sorry for the way everything turned out and I'm sorry for the man you are."

    "I'm thinking of ways I can help you," Ross replied.

    "There's no one who can help me," she said.

    "I'm going to need you to do what I'm asking you to do," Ross told her, referring to a letter he had sent her.

    "I'm not lying," Nolen told him. "How dare you continue to ask me. You involved me. I'm not lying for nobody. You should admit what you did. You did it to yourself."

    In yet another call from Ross to Nolen on Dec. 5, 2016, Ross told her: "I just really need you and me to be on the same page ... I really need us to come together, man."

    She then tells Ross that the last two years "have been the worst two years of my life."

    Rothgery again overruled a defense motion to disallow the playing of the calls in open court.

    The objection "was overruled months ago," the judge told defense attorney Michael Camera. "It was overruled again this morning."

    Prosecutors allege the deaths were a "hit" on the couple done by Ross, an alleged gang member. All three were involved in the illegal drug trade, according to testimony in court earlier this year, and competing local drug dealers believed Michael Lewis was "snitching" on them to police, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office.

    Shaundale "Tug" Brown and his brother, Marquel "Pumpkin" Brown, believed Lewis had informed on them to authorities after Shaundale Brown was arrested with more than 750 grams of cocaine, Assistant Prosecutor Tony Cillo said in his opening statement in March.

    Ross, who goes by "Joc" or "King Joc," may have offered to rob the Lewises on behalf of the Brown brothers, Cillo said. The Browns' sister, Myesha Anderson, also allegedly loaned Ross a gun to do the crime, he said. The Brown brothers both are in prison for drug crimes.

    Elyria police found a total of a kilo of heroin split between two apartments the Lewises had, along with $90,000 in suspected drug money in one of the apartments, according to prosecutors.

    Nolen got an attorney and brought Ross' jail letters and other evidence to authorities in October 2016. She later asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify in court. However, Rothgery ruled that prosecutors could use evidence given by Nolen against Ross through an exemption to the hearsay rule called "forfeiture by wrongdoing," because he found evidence that Ross tried to manipulate Nolen's testimony by misconduct.

    Ross' trial started March 2, was postponed March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed on Thursday.

    According to testimony in March, Nolen also told investigators Ross threw a pair of pants out the window of her car as she drove him to his sister's house in North Olmsted late in the evening of Jan. 31, 2016. She also overheard a reference to a metal detector that someone was supposed to take out to the area of the old Walmart off Ford Road in Elyria in a call he made within her earshot following the killings.

    Police searched near the old Walmart for a cellphone and the murder weapon, a 9 mm handgun. Ross' pants, the cellphone and murder weapon never were recovered, detectives testified in March.

    The defense has said that there is no physical evidence linking Ross to the murders. Testimony resumes next week.

    (source: The Chronicle-Telegram)
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Coroner details victims' autopsies at Jocquez Ross murder trial

    By Dave O'Brien
    The Chronicle-Telegram

    ELYRIA — Michael "LuLu" Lewis and Fannie Thomas Lewis each were shot twice from behind while seated in their car in an apartment complex parking lot near Midway Mall in January 2016, Lorain County's chief deputy coroner testified Monday at the trial of the man accused in their murders.

    Jocquez Ross, 29, faces the death penalty if convicted in the deaths of the married couple, who were shot to death while parked on Fox Hill Lane near the mall in Elyria on Jan. 31, 2016. Ross is being held in the Lorain County Jail on $2 million bond and is on trial on charges of aggravated murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability.

    Dr. Frank Miller testified that Michael Lewis, 32, died from gunshot wounds to the head and neck. Fannie Lewis, 22, died from the effects of multiple gunshot wounds to the back, including at least one that was fired through the seat inside the rented Chevrolet Traverse where she and her husband were found dead.

    The couple were known to deal drugs, and prosecutors said they were killed because rival drug dealers believed Michael Lewis was informing on them to police. The murder weapon was a 9mm handgun.

    Michael Lewis had $530 in cash in his jacket pocket when his body was searched, and Fannie Lewis had $72 in cash, multiple cellphones and a large amount of jewelry on, none of which was taken by their killer.

    Michael Lewis may still have been alive when a witness came over to the car after hearing shots, but he died at the scene as a result of his injuries, Miller testified.

    The gunshots to his head and neck were not instantly fatal because they did not penetrate his brain or sever his spinal cord, Miller said.

    Fannie Lewis had two gunshot wounds in her mid-upper back, and the bullets that killed her were recovered — one from her upper right thigh and one from just under her right eye. The first one was the shot that killed her, severing her spinal cord and causing "immediate" paralysis and death, Miller testified.

    Ross watched Miller's testimony without reacting, occasionally taking notes. Defense attorneys Kimberly Kendall Corral and Michael Camera had no questions for Miller.

    Testimony in the trial started March 2, but it was postponed March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed Thursday.

    Monday's testimony ended shortly before noon, and Rothgery let the jury go for the day because of a medical emergency involving a family member of one of the participants. Testimony resumes this morning.

    https://chroniclet.com/news/231242/c...-murder-trial/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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