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Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
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College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
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Medical examiner testifies in Cutts case she can't tell if woman was strangled because of decomposition
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Feb 09, 2008
CANTON: Clues to what killed Jessie Marie Davis and her unborn child weathered away over nine days last summer.
Stark County prosecutors say that's because Bobby Cutts Jr. strangled his pregnant lover, dumped her body in the Hampton Hills Metro Park and stayed quiet until his secret was about to be exposed.
Defense lawyers all but conceded Cutts' lies at the former patrolman's trial this week. But they counter that no one knows exactly what happened inside Davis' bedroom the morning of June 14.
They made their point to jurors on Friday when questioning Summit County Medical Examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler.
The decomposed remains of Davis and her fetus made finding a definitive cause of death impossible to determine, throwing into question the extent of Cutts' involvement.
Jurors will try to sort the questions in deliberations that are expected to begin Tuesday in Stark County Common Pleas Court. The prosecution rested its case Friday.
Cutts' attorneys are expected to begin his defense Monday. They told Judge
Charles E. Brown Jr. that their case will take less than two days. They won't say whether Cutts will take the stand.
Violent act unknown
Officially, Davis' death is a homicide caused by ''unspecified homicidal violence,'' Kohler told jurors.
What that means is Davis, 26, could have been strangled, a process that takes intent to kill and several minutes to accomplish, as prosecutors have suggested.
Unspecified homicidal violence, Kohler said, could also mean that Davis died from a sudden blow to the head — perhaps in a fit of rage and without causing any fractures — as defense attorneys pointed out in their questioning.
The remains of Davis and the fetus were primarily skeletal, Kohler testified. She placed the date of death in the early morning of June 14 — a day before Davis was reported missing and about three weeks before she was to deliver.
''Unfortunately, I am unable to say how the death occurred,'' she said.
Kohler explained her ruling of unspecified homicidal violence as a cause of death to jurors this way:
''What that indicates is the circumstances around her disappearance and her discovery and evidence of tampering (with) the investigation indicate that Miss Davis had come to harm at the hands of another individual. Because of the state of decomposition, I could no longer identify what type of injury resulted in her death.
''But the fact that she was found some great distance from her home, wrapped in bedding and left out in the open field is evidence that there was homicidal intent here. . . . A natural death did not occur under those circumstances.''
Prosecutors say Cutts strangled Davis inside her Lake Township home on June 14, wrapped her in a bed comforter and dumped the body about 20 miles away in the Summit County park.
A married father and a six-year Canton police officer, Cutts denied any knowledge of the disappearance until he led authorities to the body on June 23. He did not say how Davis died.
Strangling not certain
Kohler said strangulation is possible, but not certain in this case.
Myisha Ferrell, a co-defendant in the case, has provided the only testimony that Davis was strangled.
She told jurors Cutts made a gesture indicating a one-armed chokehold when she asked him how Davis died. Ferrell did not testify that Cutts verbally admitted to strangulation.
Ferrell, 30, said she noticed Cutts had vague scratch marks on his chest and a cut finger, injuries prosecutors say occurred during his struggle with Davis.
Kohler said there were no signs of a stabbing or gunshots or trauma to Davis' bones.
In cross-examination Friday, defense lawyer Carolyn Kaye Ranke asked Kohler whether Davis' death could have been caused by a single blow to the head. Kohler said it was possible that blunt-force trauma could have killed Davis without fracturing her skull.
Attorneys are barred by the judge from discussing the case outside court.
Lesser charge possible?
But a sudden-rage killing, as suggested by the defense in questioning Kohler, could lead jurors to consider a manslaughter charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors have charged Cutts, 30, with aggravated murder for the deaths of Davis and her unborn child. He is also charged with aggravated burglary, child endangering and abuse of a corpse. They are seeking the death penalty.
Defense attorneys say Cutts is not guilty of aggravated murder because prosecutors can't show how Davis died or that Cutts planned and intended to kill Davis, with whom he had an extramarital affair for three years.
Davis and her unborn baby were healthy a week before they disappeared, the Lake Township woman's obstetrician testified Friday.
Dr. Bradley Polifrone said he last saw Davis on June 11. He said she was ''happy, healthy'' during her appointment.
Polifrone also said that Davis' pregnancy was near full term and the fetus she was carrying could have survived a birth at that time. Davis was due to give birth in early July.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANTON: Clues to what killed Jessie Marie Davis and her unborn child weathered away over nine days last summer.
Get the full article here.
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