A Clermont County judge is considering 41 motions in the murder trial for Chad Doerman, the man accused of executing his three sons at their family home.
A pre-trial hearing was held Monday in Clermont County Common Pleas Court before Judge Richard Ferenc.
Prosecutors said Doerman lined up the boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, at their home and executed them with a rifle on June 15 as part of a plan he had been thinking about for months.
According to investigators, one of the boys tried to flee into a field, but Doerman "hunted" him down, brought him back to the house in Monroe Township, Ohio, and killed him.
The boys' mother was shot in the hand trying to save the life of one of her sons, according to court documents.
Doerman faces the death penalty and his lawyers have filed dozens of motions as the case has progressed.
The Enquirer spoke to former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen who reviewed the list of motions. He said most of them are standard procedure for death penalty cases.
"They file every motion you can possibly think of," he said.
One asks for Doerman to be allowed to appear in civilian clothes without restraints at court proceedings. Another asks the judge to exclude gruesome photographs of the crime scene.
Clermont County prosecutors argued that some of the motions were vague and putting "the cart before the horse." While Doerman's lawyers said they were "planting a fence post," so the issues aren't overlooked.
Several of the motions dealt with jury selection like one asking for jurors to be questioned individually instead of in a large pool. Another asked for a detailed jury questionnaire to be completed by potential jurors prior to jury selection.
Allen said nearly all were "pretty typical" in death penalty cases, but there were two motions he said he had never seen before.
The first was a motion to prohibit any references to the trial's first phase as the "guilty phase."
There are two parts to death penalty trials. The first asks the jury to determine whether the defendant is guilty of the charges. If the person is found guilty, the second phase of the trial asks the jury whether the defendant should be put to death.
Death penalty cases are the only criminal cases in Ohio in which a jury has anything to do with the penalty or sentence the defendant is given. In other criminal cases, it is the judge who determines the sentence.
Allen said that lawyers colloquially refer to the first phase of the trial as the "guilt phase" or "guilty phase." In law texts, it is called the guilt/innocence phase or the culpability phase.
Allen said it makes sense for a defense lawyer to file a motion about the language being used in front of a jury.
"You don't want the jury to associate the defendant with guilt," he said.
The second motion that Allen said was new to him involved the jury pool. The defense has filed a motion for a fair jury pool that includes "convicted felons who have served their sentences."
"The thought must be that if you've been convicted by a jury and served time you might be sympathetic to a defendant," Allen said.
Judge Ferenc made no rulings on any of the motions Monday. He said he would issue written rulings to each of the motions. He said the motions are important and due to rules of the courts, he can amend or change his rulings as new information comes to light.
Ferenc said these motions will also give the prosecution and the defense a chance to understand his understanding, attitude and interpretation of the law, which could save everyone time later.
Doerman is being held at the Clermont County Jail on a $20 million bond. Ferenc said Monday that Doerman has not been disruptive at the jail, a factor the judge will consider when deciding if he will have to continue to wear restraints to court.
Doerman was arrested the same day as the killings at his home just yards away from the bodies of his sons. He's been in jail since that day in June. His trial is scheduled to begin July 8, but it is common for murder trials to be delayed.
It is unclear as to why Chad shot Clayton, Hunter, and Chase dead. However, the website, Ready Steady Cut, speculates he did that to hurt his 34-year-old wife. The accused apparently believed that his wife was cheating on him. This reason is unconfirmed. On the day of the incident, Chad’s wife faced an injury.
Source:
cincinnati.com, Cameron Knight, November 23, 2023
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