Bobby Cutts Sentencing Phase – Day 2

Very bad weather in Ohio today.
Jessie and Cutts’ families are all present.
Juror 631, an alternate has been excused due to a family illness.

Prosecutors will close with Barr reserving time. Defense closing will be shared by Ranke and Mack. Each side will have 45 minutes to present closing. Then jury instructions will be given.

Judge polls the jury as to whether or not they have abided by the admonishment.

Wow, none of Jessie’s family or friends is called to comment!

Mr. Barr closing. You folks are the most qualified people to render a fair sentencing. We do not take it lightly and you have taken an oath to render a fair and appropriate verdict in this case.

Yesterday you heard the mitigating factors. Your final act is to render a fair and appropriate verdict based on the law the Judge gives you.

You agreed that you would consider a death sentence on the case. You found aggravating charges beyond a reasonable doubt in this case.

You found that Bobby Cutts was the principal offender and committed murders of Jessie and Chloe.

June 14th when Bobby Cutts began his conduct that led to the death of Jessie and Chloe, he made not a single effort to save the life of his daughter.

Bobby went to college, became a police officer to serve and protect the public, not to hurt it. Renee said Bobby grew up normal; he wasn’t affected by the violence in the home. There was no child abuse.

We know he was evaluated by Dr. Fabian. He took everyone at their word. He didn’t investigate anything. How much faith can you put into Dr. Fabian's report? He only spoke to people who loved Bobby.

You saw Bobby sit in the witness stand, not under oath and beg for his life. He said he would do anything to bring Jessie and Chloe back. Really? Did you Bobby? You could have walked away, but you didn’t.

You have the mitigating factors you now will go into that room and weig those against the aggravating circumstances.

You have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he took Jessie’s life and the life of his innocent daughter, who never drew a breath outside of her mother’s womb.

Bobby Cutts deserves the maximum sentence under the law of Ohio and that would be death.

Attorney Mack: During jury selection you heard me discuss the challenge of this case and the process you went through.

You concluded that Bobby Cutts did not commit aggravated murder of Jessie Davis. But, you did find he committed aggravated murder against the fetus.

Death is inappropriate in this case. Ironically the State of Ohio is asking you to do the same thing with a death sentence.

This is not about signing a piece of paper it’s about putting someone to death.

This is not about Timothy McVeigh, Saddam Hussein, Ted Bundy, the worse of the worse.

The evidence is clear this is a situation that got out of hand. And the actions taken after made it worse.

Leaving Blake unattended is not an aggravating circumstance. Bobby is still Blake’s father.

This prosecutor wants you to put Blake’s father to death. Think about Blake. What if he has questions about his father?

Yes, Bobby told lies, but these aren’t aggravating circumstances.

You have to take all of this in context. The coroner said there was no injury to the fetus.

You know up until this point, Bobby has led a significantly law abiding life.

I hope you were moved by his apology yesterday and you had a right to hear that apology and his remorse. He acknowledges and accepts the responsibility of taking the life of Jessie and Chloe. If that doesn’t move you, than nothing will.

Good people make bad decisions and a couple of minutes redefine 30 years of being a good person.

The prosecution keeps bringing up the fact that Bobby was a police officer. He and the mother of his children got into an altercation. That is not about being a police officer.

You heard his life has meaning. You heard from his family, how the depend and rely on him. It’s not about sympathy; it’s a fact.

There no sense in shattering more lives. If you think he doesn’t feel bad about what happened, then you’re wrong.

25 years to life is appropriate here. He’ll be 55 before the parole board will even look at him. This was an isolated occurrence. There is no reason to believe this type of incident would occur again.

We respect your verdict and how difficult it was to reach.
We are asking you to find the appropriate sentence.

Attorney Ranke: Thank you for your time and effort. It’s a difficult case and we ask that you consider all of what you have heard during this case.

Your task is to weigh the mitigating factors against the aggravated circumstances.

What happened in June was awful, but that’s not all there is to Bobby Cutts. The full picture of Bobby, you didn’t know before. That’s why you heard from his family.

Bobby can still be there from Brianna, and his sister and his nephew. He can’t go check on sister but he can still provide support in a limited way.

Dr. Fabian tried to give you a full picture of Bobby. He said there was no violent tendencies. Did Dr. Fabian have to go out and verify what everybody said to him? No, you heard about it from Bobby’s family.

The absence of violence of his lifetime is something you need to consider regarding those awful events in June. There was no pattern of prior violent behavior before those horrible days in June. And we are asking that you consider that.

Your role is to determine whether those 10 days outweigh thirty years of life. We are asking you to consider that.

What does he mean to his family, his children, his friends? I’m asking you to consider that.

You heard Bobby’s remorse and how sorry he is about what happened. I am asking you to consider that and to spare his life.

Mr. Barr: It’s not about 10 days in June. It’s about a lifetime of missed opportunities for Jessie and Chloe.

Mr. Mack told your there is no reason this will happen again. No kidding, Bobby fixed that when he killed Jessie and Chloe.

He sat here and cried. He didn’t have a problem taking a life, but he wants you to save his life.

After what Blake saw, when he grows up do you think he will want Bobby as a father?

Bobby Cutts had a trial, he had a jury. Jessie and Chloe didn’t have that.

The death penalty is not reserved for the likes of “Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy. It can be Bobby Cutts.”

What is worse than killing a mother and your own unborn child who was 2 weeks away from being born?

Despite a good background and growing up in a good family, he chose to kill Jessie and baby Chloe and for that, you should choose a sentence of death.

Judge instructs the jury. The sentence must be unanimous and the sentence may be:

Life in prison with parole in 25 years.

Life in prison with parole in 30 years.

Life in prison with no parole.

Death penalty.

Well, it’s now in the juror’s hands.

CNN.Crime