Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 25, 2006 0:38:14 GMT -5
Jury convicts Hubbard in murder-for-hire plot
Kevin Duane Hubbard II sat motionless Thursday night as a Butler County
Common Pleas Court jury returned verdicts finding him guilty in the August
2003 execution-style murder of Jeff Thomas of Monroe.
The 6-man, 6-woman jury deliberated for 6 1/2 hours before returning
guilty verdicts on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and having
weapons under disability, as well as separate specifications including
engaging in a murder-for-hire plot.
The jury found him not guilty on a 4th-charge that alleged he had also
conspired to kill Schawn Little of Middletown - his accomplice in Thomas'
murder.
Hubbard, 29, of Middletown was convicted of charges that he accepted a
$40,000 payment from interstate drug "kingpin" Justin Bach for the
contract killing of Thomas.
In earlier testimony, Bach, formerly of Middletown, said he wanted Thomas
killed because he believed Thomas was responsible for federal agents
intercepting $240,000 in drug money intended for Bach and his drug ring
partner, Paul David Lawwill.
According to testimony from several witnesses, Hubbard and Little lured
Thomas to Dayton, where Hubbard shot him in the back of the head.
Now jurors will return to court on Monday for a mitigation hearing before
they begin deliberating whether to recommend the death penalty or a lesser
sentence, the minimum of which would be 25 years to life in prison.
Hubbard's family had packed Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage's courtroom
each day of the four-day trial, but none were present when the verdicts
came in about 7:15 p.m.
Meanwhile, the victim's family sat in the courtroom in the same seats they
had occupied all week. The only sounds other than the judge reading the
verdicts were the sobs from Thomas' family.
"I'm very happy about the verdict," said Thomas' father, Del Thomas of
Beavercreek. "That's really all I have to say right now."
Other family members, overcome with emotion, declined to comment.
Hubbard and his defense team, attorneys Ronald Morgan and Christopher
Alexander, quickly left the courtroom with their client under sheriff's
escort.
In closing arguments Thursday afternoon, Morgan told jurors the state had
failed to prove its case because it produced no physical evidence linking
Hubbard to Thomas' death.
Morgan argued that all of the state's witnesses were people who had also
been charged in connection with the drug operation or Thomas' death.
Morgan said they took plea agreements and made Hubbard a "scapegoat" in
order to get lesser sentences.
But Prosecutor Robin Piper and Assistant Prosecutor Dan Eichel argued
there was no conspiracy to make Hubbard a "scapegoat."
"This vast conspiracy theory is a figment of the defense (attorney's)
imagination," Eichel said.
Piper and Eichel expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
"I think it's obvious from the amount of time the jury deliberated that
they took their responsibility very, very seriously," Piper said. "Their
verdict confirmed my faith in the criminal justice system."
(source: Hamilton Journal News)
Kevin Duane Hubbard II sat motionless Thursday night as a Butler County
Common Pleas Court jury returned verdicts finding him guilty in the August
2003 execution-style murder of Jeff Thomas of Monroe.
The 6-man, 6-woman jury deliberated for 6 1/2 hours before returning
guilty verdicts on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and having
weapons under disability, as well as separate specifications including
engaging in a murder-for-hire plot.
The jury found him not guilty on a 4th-charge that alleged he had also
conspired to kill Schawn Little of Middletown - his accomplice in Thomas'
murder.
Hubbard, 29, of Middletown was convicted of charges that he accepted a
$40,000 payment from interstate drug "kingpin" Justin Bach for the
contract killing of Thomas.
In earlier testimony, Bach, formerly of Middletown, said he wanted Thomas
killed because he believed Thomas was responsible for federal agents
intercepting $240,000 in drug money intended for Bach and his drug ring
partner, Paul David Lawwill.
According to testimony from several witnesses, Hubbard and Little lured
Thomas to Dayton, where Hubbard shot him in the back of the head.
Now jurors will return to court on Monday for a mitigation hearing before
they begin deliberating whether to recommend the death penalty or a lesser
sentence, the minimum of which would be 25 years to life in prison.
Hubbard's family had packed Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage's courtroom
each day of the four-day trial, but none were present when the verdicts
came in about 7:15 p.m.
Meanwhile, the victim's family sat in the courtroom in the same seats they
had occupied all week. The only sounds other than the judge reading the
verdicts were the sobs from Thomas' family.
"I'm very happy about the verdict," said Thomas' father, Del Thomas of
Beavercreek. "That's really all I have to say right now."
Other family members, overcome with emotion, declined to comment.
Hubbard and his defense team, attorneys Ronald Morgan and Christopher
Alexander, quickly left the courtroom with their client under sheriff's
escort.
In closing arguments Thursday afternoon, Morgan told jurors the state had
failed to prove its case because it produced no physical evidence linking
Hubbard to Thomas' death.
Morgan argued that all of the state's witnesses were people who had also
been charged in connection with the drug operation or Thomas' death.
Morgan said they took plea agreements and made Hubbard a "scapegoat" in
order to get lesser sentences.
But Prosecutor Robin Piper and Assistant Prosecutor Dan Eichel argued
there was no conspiracy to make Hubbard a "scapegoat."
"This vast conspiracy theory is a figment of the defense (attorney's)
imagination," Eichel said.
Piper and Eichel expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
"I think it's obvious from the amount of time the jury deliberated that
they took their responsibility very, very seriously," Piper said. "Their
verdict confirmed my faith in the criminal justice system."
(source: Hamilton Journal News)