September 30, 2004

Rittenhouse pleads innocent

By Robert Mihalek

Michael Rittenhouse pleaded innocent last week to charges that he murdered Timothy Lopez, a classmate at YSHS, in January 2002.

Rittenhouse, who is now 20, entered his plea during an arraignment last Wednesday in Greene County Common Pleas Court. He has also been charged with aggravated robbery and abuse of a corpse.

He was not in the courtroom of Judge J. Timothy Campbell, but instead appeared on a secure television feed from the Greene County jail, where he has stayed since his arrest in February of this year.

The arraignment took place a week after the Greene County Grand Jury handed down a secret indictment against Rittenhouse.

If convicted of aggravated murder, Rittenhouse could face the death penalty, life in jail with no parole or 25 to 30 years in jail with the possibility of parole. The aggravated robbery charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years, and the charge of abuse of a corpse carries a sentence of up to 12 months in jail.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 4. Judge Campbell scheduled the jury trial to begin Oct. 25.

One of Rittenhouse’s attorneys, Jon Paul Rion, said, however, that the trial would likely be delayed while his office and Greene County prosecutors exercise a series of motions. Rion estimated that the trial would not begin until next spring.

Rion described as significant the pretrial hearing and the legal activity that will take place in early October. He said that it would be clear if Rittenhouse’s case would actually go to trial during this coming period. He said he hopes “both sides are keeping an open mind at this point.”

William Schenck, the Greene County prosecuting attorney, indicated several times during a news conference announcing the indictment two weeks ago that his office is open to reaching a plea bargain with Rittenhouse.

One of the motions Rion plans to file will challenge what he called the “appropriateness” of the death penalty in this case. The case involves “nothing particularly out of the ordinary” that proves Rittenhouse is a threat, Rion said.

“This case proves why it should not be allowed in general,” Rion said of the death penalty.

After Rittenhouse was indicted by the Grand Jury, Rion said that his client acted in self-defense the day Lopez died. He said that Lopez, believing Rittenhouse owed him money, entered Rittenhouse’s home, without permission, while he was sleeping and confronted him. Lopez threatened Rittenhouse and his family, Rion has claimed.

Rion said on Monday that “our position has not changed.”

“Everything that Michael has said from Day 1 has been consistent and truthful,” Rion said.

The Greene County prosecutor’s office alleges that Rittenhouse killed Lopez and that robbery was the motive. The county coroner determined that Lopez died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Lopez was an 18-year-old senior at Yellow Springs High School when he was reported missing on Jan. 22, 2002. For more than two years, his whereabouts were a mystery until the Greene County sheriff’s department and other law enforcement officials unearthed his remains in the backyard of Rittenhouse’s home on Feb. 20.