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March 24, 2005
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March 24, 2005 |
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Rittenhouse to plead guilty for slaying YSHS classmate in 2002
Yellow Springs resident Michael Rittenhouse is expected to plead guilty next week for the 2002 murder of his Yellow Springs High School classmate Timothy Lopez. Rittenhouse, 21, is scheduled to appear with his attorneys at a plea hearing in Greene County Common Pleas Court before Judge J. Timothy Campbell on Wednesday, March 30. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. at the Greene County Courthouse. A Greene County grand jury indicted Rittenhouse last September on the charge of aggravated murder and the first and fifth degree felony charges of aggravated robbery and gross abuse of a corpse. He is facing a possible death sentence if convicted of aggravated murder. Jon Paul Rion, one of Rittenhouse’s attorneys, said last week that Rittenhouse is expected to enter a plea of guilty, and the charges against him will be reduced from aggravated murder with the death penalty specification. He said that the case would not have to go to trial. “We hope to resolve this matter to the satisfaction of both parties,” he said. “This is one of those unusual cases where we’re working very closely with the prosecutor’s office with full disclosure,” Rion said. “We entered into this open-book negotiation with the prosecutor in an effort to come to a very truthful resolution…We believe in this instance it has been very effective for both sides.” Suzanne Schmidt, the Greene County first assistant prosecutor, said on Friday that Rittenhouse’s attorneys have indicated a willingness to enter a plea. Both Schmidt and Rion would not comment on the details of their negotiations. Schmidt also could not say whether this procedure was typical of a murder case. “This is certainly the most serious case you can have, and we’ve been working on this case for some time,” she said. “There is not a typical homicide case. Each case is different.” Rion indicated that Rittenhouse’s assertion that he acted in self-defense was one of the issues involved in the plea bargain, but he would not elaborate further on his case. He said at the time of Rittenhouse’s indictment last fall that his client acted in self-defense, claiming that Lopez entered his house while he was sleeping and threatened him and his family. Lopez believed that Rittenhouse owed him money, Rion has said. The attorney also said at the time that this was “not a case where the death penalty should be applied.” Rittenhouse was arrested in February 2004. The Greene County sheriff’s department and other law enforcement agencies unearthed Lopez’s body from Rittenhouse’s Allen Street backyard. Lopez, an 18-year-old YSHS senior when he disappeared, had been missing for two years. He vanished one morning in January 2002 after leaving school. The Greene County coroner determined that Lopez died as a result of blunt trauma after receiving multiple blows to his head. Rittenhouse has been held without bond in the Greene County jail since his arrest. His jury trial is scheduled to begin May 16. If the case does go to trial for some reason, and the aggravated murder charge is upheld, he would face a host of possible sentences, including the death penalty, life without parole, or a sentence with parole after 25 years. If the aggravated murder charges are reduced, Rittenhouse could face life with parole after 20 years or a sentence of 15 years to life.
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