The fate of a Fairport Harbor woman accused of murdering her husband in 2011 could be decided as early as Tuesday.
The fate of a Fairport Harbor woman accused of murdering her husband in 2011 could be decided as early as Tuesday.
After deliberating all day Monday, a jury comprising six men and six women told Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fuhry they had reached a verdict on two of three charges against Doretta Scheffield, 64, but were deadlocked on a third before they asked to go home for the night.
Doretta was tried on charges of aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of her husband, Randy Scheffield, 53, on Dec. 27, 2011. Randy, who owned Scheffield Lawns, a Newbury Township landscaping business, was found unconscious in his bed. It was later discovered he had been shot in the back of the head by a small caliber gun.
Doretta, along with her son, David “Tig” Rowles, 34, and his girlfriend, Gina Battaglia, 31, both of Newbury, were all arrested March 26 and charged in connection to Randy’s murder.
After the jury was excused for the night Monday, Geauga County Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Driscoll told Fuhry if the jurors had deliberated as earnestly as they could for a reasonable period of time, but could not reach a decision on the greater offense — aggravated murder — the state would take the verdicts in the lesser two charges and would mistry the third.
“That mistrial would allow the State of Ohio to possibly have another trial, but that’s not saying that we would,” Driscoll told Fuhry. “But I think that a mistrial on that count (aggravated murder) would allow us to.”
Defense counsel Richard Drucker disagreed.
“I think that because murder is a lesser included (offense), if there’s a finding on the lesser included, it could be a judgment on the merits,” he argued. “My understanding has always been if there is some type of finding on a lesser included charge, that it’s double jeopardy to (retry the case on the greater offense).”
“Either way, it doesn’t negate the failure to reach a verdict on the greater offense, even though it’s not a typical greater offense charged in the indictment without a lesser one mentioned in the indictment,” said Fuhry. “It doesn’t negate the finding on the lesser offense.”
Drucker said the two counts would merge if there were convictions on both murder charges.
“I mean, you can’t be convicted of agg murder and murder,” he said. “It’s a very unusual situation.”
Added Drucker, “The bottom line is we, of course, would like the jury to continue to deliberate.”
Fuhry said jurors would continue with deliberations in the morning and if they were still unable to reach a verdict on one of the counts, “so be it” and they would be asked to fill out the verdict forms accordingly.
“I think they’ll give it a good try tomorrow and we’ll see how they sum it up,” added Fuhry. “This jury does impress me as being very hard working and intense. They took almost no breaks, they didn’t want anything for lunch, they didn’t want any water, they didn’t want any snacks, they didn’t want anything — a half hour lunch, 15-minute break, back in here and all day.”
On the day of his murder, Geauga County Sheriff’s Office deputies were told Randy was last seen alive at his residence during the morning hours of Dec. 27, 2011, by his wife. Doretta said Randy was watching television.
“She further stated that at approximately 9:45 p.m., she went back in the residence to make dinner and found Randy still in bed, unresponsive, bleeding from the ear,” said Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland during a press conference after the defendants’ arrests.
Doretta worked as a bookkeeper at the landscaping company where Rowles worked as well.
Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz previously said there was a financial motive to the murder, adding it is believed all three defendants planned, carried out and covered up the murder.
However, Fuhry would not allow the state to introduce any evidence regarding any alleged conspiracy.
Rowles’s case is set for trial Feb. 1, 2016, and Battaglia is scheduled to be tried Nov. 3.
