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Thread: Lamont Hunter - Ohio

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    Lamont Hunter - Ohio


    Three-year-old Trustin Blue





    Summary of Offense:

    On January 19, 2006, Hunter shook, raped with a sharp object, and beat three-year-old Trustin Blue in Cincinnati. Trustin died the following day from his injuries. Hunter, who had a previous court order to have no contact with Trustin because of abuse, was the boyfriend of Trustin’s mother and was babysitting him in their house while she was working.

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Attorneys seek death-row reprieve in Trustin Blue case

    Convicted child-murderer and rapist Lamont Hunter should get a reprieve from Ohio's death row, his new attorneys argue, because his old attorney was so concerned about going to prison himself that he didn't give Hunter an appropriate defense.

    Hunter was sentenced to death in 2007 for the murder and rape of 3-year-old Trustin Blue, six days before Hunter's trial attorney, Clyde Bennett II, pleaded guilty to making illegal financial transactions and was sent to federal prison for two years for it.

    Hamilton County prosecutors and Hunter's new attorneys, Bruce Hust and Herbert Freeman, will argue the case Tuesday before the Ohio Supreme Court. Hunter wants the death penalty overturned and a new trial because of what his new attorneys said was Bennett's lack of professionalism.

    "Bennett was desperate for cash, and not inclined to tell (Hunter's) family that he was distracted by his own issues, and unable to go forward effectively," Hust and Freeman wrote in documents to the Ohio Supreme Court.

    That drew outrage from Bennett - practicing law again after serving his prison sentence and having his law license reinstated - who was upset he learned about the accusations from a reporter.

    "I am going to sue (Hust and Freeman) for defamation," Bennett responded. "I was not strapped for cash.... I was a partner at the largest law firm in the city of Cincinnati making lots of money."

    This is the latest twist in the sensational case of the brutal crime against the small child. Hunter was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007, the first death penalty given in Hamilton County since 2003.

    Hunter raped and killed the son of his girlfriend, an act so outrageous that Norbert Nadel, one of the judges who presided over Hunter's trial and sentence, called him "the lowest form of dehumanized individual."

    But even that kind of killer has the right to a good defense from an attorney who isn't more concerned about his own legal fate, Hunter's new attorneys argue.

    "Clyde Bennett's performance was so inadequate that it is somewhat difficult just figuring out where to start the litany of deficiencies," they wrote.

    Bennett insists he gave Hunter a vigorous defense despite woeful evidence he had to try to save his client's life.

    "They (prosecutors) just had overwhelming evidence. I tried a good case," Bennett said. "If I didn't do my job, prove it."

    Prosecutors agree, calling the attack on Bennett by Hunter's new lawyers "baseless."

    "Bennett is known to be one of the most skilled criminal defense practitioners in Cincinnati and worked for one of the area's most prestigious law firms in Dinsmore & Shohl," Assistant Prosecutor Ron Springman wrote in court documents, adding Hunter's new lawyer can't specifically demonstrate how Bennett's legal issues impacted Hunter's trial.

    Bennett angrily noted that in the summer of 2007, just before he went to prison for depositing $124,000 in cash into bank accounts in amounts under $10,000 in 2002 and 2003 to avoid bank scrutiny, he tried three other high-profile cases and won them all.

    "It's not due to me being concerned about myself. What it was, was (Hunter) had a bad case," Bennett said. "I eat stress for breakfast."

    It's typical for new attorneys to attack the work of the trial attorney in seeking to get a client a new trial. Bennett understands that but can't believe Hust and Freeman would take what he considers personal shots at him.

    "They have got a defendant on death row, therefore you attack whatever you can," Bennett said. "(But) you've also got professional jealousy. If they have an opportunity to devalue or compromise my integrity, they're going to do it.

    "There is not an attorney in Hamilton County who has been as successful as I have. Don't disparage me when there's no basis."

    Hunter also was sentenced in that case to life in prison without parole for the rape and eight years in prison for child endangering.

    http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    STATE V HUNTER

    Today the Ohio Supreme Court AFFIRMED Hunter's conviction and death sentence on direct appeal.

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    and the article...

    Ohio Supreme Court backs death sentence for man who raped, killed 3-year-old boy

    The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a Cincinnati man who raped and killed the 3-year-old son of his live-in girlfriend.

    Lamont Hunter had pleaded not guilty to killing Trustin Blue in 2006 but a three-judge Hamilton County panel convicted the 43-year-old Hunter and sentenced him to death in 2007.

    The high court's decision Tuesday said the boy was raped with a sharp object and died from blunt impact and shaking injuries to his head.

    The ruling also noted that the boy had been previously treated at a hospital for injuries and that he had expressed fear of Hunter.

    The court rejected arguments by Hunter that his lawyers didn't defend him properly, including an argument that they didn't present proper expert witnesses on his behalf.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...-Penalty-Ohio/

  5. #5
    Senior Member Member Jeffects's Avatar
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    Hmm, let's see if I've got this straight: A court order keeping him away from the child because of previous abuse and Mom lets him babysit. She is beyond stupid and irresponsible. I blame her just as much as this sick piece of garbage for the death of her child.

  6. #6
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    I agree with you. Too many times these women get off scot-free.

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On March 26, 2015, Hunter filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/ohi...cv00209/181953

  8. #8
    Espgirlwonder
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    Exactly!

  9. #9
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    I agree with you. Too many times these women get off scot-free.
    So True

    Previous:

    April 9, 2009

    In Ohio today, a mother was released from jail. Her son, Trustin Blue died of severe injuries in January 2006. She left him with her boyfriend, Lamont Hunter despite court orders against it.

    Mother of murdered child freed

    A year after she was sent to prison when her boyfriend beat her 3-year-old son to death, Luzmilda Blue was freed Wednesday, causing her to beam and dance and clap her way down courthouse halls.

    She’s all smiles today, but hopefully she’ll never forget Trustin,” Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Seth Tieger said.

    Trustin Blue was raped most of his life by his mother’s boyfriend, Lamont Hunter, until Hunter beat the 3-year-old to death in January 2006. Hunter was convicted in the boy’s death and now sits on Ohio’s death row.

    Blue, 33, was convicted last year of child endangering in connection with her son’s death. Blue left her child in Hunter’s care knowing he’d abused Trustin in the past. The child was taken from her because of the abuse but was returned after she took parenting classes.

    Common Pleas Judge Charles Kubicki Jr. sent her to prison for four years but said he would let her out early if she got in no trouble behind bars.

    Read more about his story here, Brutal death ended life of pain and fear

    https://missingchild.wordpress.com/2...-on-his-grave/
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    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Death row inmate convicted of murdering 3-year-old in 2006 could get new trial

    By Karin Johnson
    wlwt.com

    CINCINNATI — Lamont Hunter has been sitting on death row for the last 16 years. In 2007, he was convicted of raping and murdering three-year-old Trustin Blue. Trustin was the son of Hunter's girlfriend at the time of his death in 2006.

    Now, Hunter could be getting a new trial.

    "He is just grateful that somebody is finally listening," said attorney Al Gerhardstein.

    Gerhardstein, his firm and federal public defenders have been reviewing Hunter's conviction for years and said they've uncovered new evidence that resulted in the deputy coroner who ruled this case a homicide to change her opinion to an undetermined death.

    The new evidence includes a picture of a stairwell showing an angular ledge.

    "Lamont Hunter has always said that the child fell down the stairs. That's been his story from the beginning," Gerhardstein said. "When the assistant coroner saw it, she said, 'Oh, my. The injuries I identified and the young child could easily have been incurred by falling and hitting that ledge.'"

    Gerhardstein said other new pieces of evidence have to do with medical intervention that was not clear to the deputy coroner at the time.

    Prosecutors said Trustin was raped with a sharp object. Gerhardstein said there's evidence to show injuries could have been accidentally caused by hospital staff trying to take the toddler's temperature.

    "Then we also have two new experts. One is a pediatric forensic pathologist who has agreed that there is no murder here," Gerhardstein said.

    The other expert, according to Gerhardstein, is a biomechanical expert who is also an emergency room physician in Cincinnati.

    "He's done all of the physics analysis of the fall and concluded that the child's injuries are more consistent with a fall down the stairs than any sort of shaking," Gerhardstein said.

    Amy Clausing, spokesperson for the Hamilton County Prosecutor's released the following statement:

    "Through the federal appeals process, the coroner who originally made the homicide determination, and has stood by that determination for 17 years, change her opinion that the cause of death was undetermined.

    With this change in circumstance, the Prosecutor's office understands that a new trial is appropriate.

    We remain confident in Hunter's conviction and welcome the opportunity to try him again, if we must."

    It will now be up to a judge to officially grant a new trial.

    WLWT tried reaching Trustin's mother. Messages left for her were not returned Wednesday.

    https://www.wlwt.com/amp/article/dea...trial/43714577
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