BUCYRUS — The defense team for a former corrections officer who was acquitted of all felonies after he held a woman at gunpoint spoke with Crawford County Now about their victory and trial strategy.
Jim Mayer III and Sean Boone, both defense attorneys from Mansfield knew the key to winning the case against Jason Tupps, 45, of Galion boiled down to the abduction charge and the state’s ability to prove impairment.
Tupps, a former corrections officer with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department was accused of holding a motorist at gunpoint in July 2018 and threatening to shoot her after a car crash. The incident led to multiple charges against Tupps including improper handling of a firearm, abduction, driving under the influence of alcohol, using weapons while intoxicated, aggravated menacing and assured clear distance ahead.
A jury of three women and nine men found Tupps not guilty on all counts except falsification, a minor misdemeanor.
The verdict shocked many. The case was filled with salacious relationships, bribery, theft and plots between two women who both shared children with Tupps’ original attorney, Adam Stone.
Mayer and Boone came onto the case after Stone removed himself and became a state witness against two women, Megan Futchi of Cleveland, a consultant on the case and Brittany Miller, a witness for the defense. Futchi pleaded guilty to bribery and theft from the elderly. Futchi took a plea deal which included her testimony. However, Futchi was declared a hostile witness which could put her plea in jeopardy. Miller who is charged with the same offenses is scheduled to go to trial in October. If convicted she faces up to 36 months in prison.
“We were super pleased with the way it played out all week. We felt strongly that there was a pathway to get there with respect to facts of the case. The version of events according to Jason was heard throughout the trial. He was trying very hard at the scene to express his side of it.” Mayer said.
Filliater testified that Tupps had received and was a certified peace officer in the state of Ohio. Although Filliater testified that according to Sheriff’s Department policy and procedure, Tupps did not have the authority to arrest or conduct traffic stops, it is part of his (Tupps’) official duties as a deputized officer. Mayer was able to get that included in a jury instruction which he felt was crucial to the victory.
The team said the felony charges were always the fight in the case.
Mayer said that he and co-counsel Boone felt that how the scene was played out on County Line Road and Market St. and Croft supported Tupps’ version with the physical evidence more than the alleged victim’s (Abbey Hickman) statements.
Mayer and Boone described the OVI charge as one of the weakest they had ever seen.
“We all but conceded he drank one or possibly two of those Buzz Balls. But that does not leave you impaired. His behavior at the scene, language, temperament was because he was being falsely accused,” Mayer said.
When asked about the two mistakes made by Lt. John Schoenfelt, one at the scene and another in his crash report, Mayer and Boone categorized them as big mistakes. Schoenfelt admitted under testimony that he incorrectly informed the sheriff that Tupps admitted to drinking two beers. Tupps was adamant that he drank nothing. Later Schoenfelt alerted the sheriff to his mistake and did not include it in his report. However ,on the crash report Schoenfelt described Tupps as normal to the exclusion of alcohol impairment.
“Proof beyond a reasonable doubt must be proven. There can’t be these kinds of mistakes made that go right to the heart of the issue,” Mayer said.
Mayer and Boone expressed their gratitude for the outcome and are happy that the Tupps family can move forward beyond this trial.
“This family and Jason have been through the mill. He refused every plea deal offered to him when both Stone and I represented him. I credit him for sticking it out,” Mayer said.
Had Tupps been found guilty of the OVI, he would have served a mandatory three years flat in prison on a gun specification. However, now that he has been acquitted he has no firearm restrictions and is free to return to police work.
Tupps was found guilty on one count of falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable with up to six months in jail and a $1000 fine. Tupps has already served some weeks in jail on a probation violating early on in this case. Tupps is set to be sentenced this Friday at 10 a.m. in the Crawford County Common Pleas Court.
