CONVICTION OVERTURNED OH - Heidi Taylor, 40, murdered, Champaign County, 6 April 2017

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According to this he stabbed Heidi more than 60 times before he shot her. I still don't know whether to believe he has multiple personalities. This case sounds similar to Kristina French, Logan Mott case IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if Logan doesn't use a similar defense.

Prosecutor: Lots of evidence against Champaign Co. teen in murder case

A Champaign County teen who says he has multiple personalities and is accused of killing his surrogate mother pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday.

He can be heard in a 9-1-1 call obtained by the Springfield News-Sun saying someone else inside him allegedly killed Taylor.

Champaign County Family Court Judge Lori Reisinger moved his case to adult court last month.

A forensic psychologist found Nicholas suffers from a disassociative disorder. Psychologist Daniel Hrinko revealed his diagnosis while he testified during a Champaign County Family Court hearing.

Heckman has said it’s believed Nicholas’ alleged split personality is a character from an internet horror series named Jeff the Killer. The character is known for fictitious brutal killings on the shows.
 
JerseyGirl said:
Murder trial against Champaign County teen set to start Monday
Click to expand...
Thank you Jersey Girl. The trial is expected to last a week. This case is so bizarre, I hope the truth comes out.

From your link-

Heckman has said it’s believed Nicholas’ alleged split personality is a character from an internet horror series named Jeff the Killer. The character is known for fictitious brutal killings on the show.

He said he plans on defending his client during trial starting Monday.

“The evidence will be the evidence,” Heckman said. “We expect the trial to last all week and we are hopeful that there will be a fair result.”
 
Jury convicts teen who says alternate personality killed his dad’s girlfriend

URBANA —

It only took three hours of deliberations Wednesday for a jury to convict a 16-year-old Champaign County boy in the stabbing and shooting death of his father’s longtime girlfriend.

Donovan Nicholas was found guilty of aggravated murder and murder, the Columbus Dispatch reported, in the death of 40-year-old Heidi Fay Taylor in April 2017. He will be sentenced Tuesday.
 
Tillicum said:
Jury convicts teen who says alternate personality killed his dad’s girlfriend

URBANA —

It only took three hours of deliberations Wednesday for a jury to convict a 16-year-old Champaign County boy in the stabbing and shooting death of his father’s longtime girlfriend.

Donovan Nicholas was found guilty of aggravated murder and murder, the Columbus Dispatch reported, in the death of 40-year-old Heidi Fay Taylor in April 2017. He will be sentenced Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Coming up a 404 error

Jury convicts teen who says alternate personality killed his dad’s girlfriend
 
Boy Executes Woman Who Raised Him Then Blames Alternate Personality Based on 'Jeff the Killer'

"No one disputes how Heidi Taylor died — after more than five dozen stab wounds and with a final, fatal shot to the head — but more than a year later, the teenage boy convicted of murdering her in their home maintains he is not to blame.

“I am so scared. I didn’t want to kill her,” Donovan Nicholas, then 14, told an emergency dispatcher in a shaky voice last April from his kitchen in Urbana, Ohio. There he lay bleeding from an inadvertent leg wound sustained while he was stabbing the 40-year-old Taylor with a kitchen knife, over and over....

In June, days after his 16th birthday, he was convicted as an adult of aggravated murder and sentenced to life in prison. He will be eligible for parole after 28 years....

..with Donovan appealing, the case is likely to carry into next year. Heckman argues he is severely mentally ill and in critical need of treatment in the juvenile system, where he should have remained.

“There is an important societal issue as to what age do we give up on children for their rehabilitation prospects and what age do we not?” Heckman tells PEOPLE...."

Boy Executes Woman Who Raised Him Then Blames Alternate Personality Based on 'Jeff the Killer'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Stabbed 63 Times at Home by Boyfriend's Teen Son, Murder Victim's Family Wonders What Drove Him to Kill

September 16, 2018

"....Donovan’s attorney, Darrell Heckman, who is appealing his conviction, believes he is seriously ill and should never have been removed from the juvenile system, where he could be rehabilitated. Donovan’s father, Shane Nicholas, is supporting his son’s appeal and believes he is sick. (Shane declined to speak with PEOPLE.)

In critical need of treatment, Donovan has developed still more personalities while behind bars, Heckman says. He believes Donovan has dissociative identity disorder (DID) — a rare condition in which a person’s identity fragments. DID’s roots typically trace back to extreme physical or sexual trauma in childhood, which Donovan did not experience.

While psychological experts say someone with DID could theoretically commit such violence in the grip of one of their identities, as Donovan says he did, patients with the disorder do not tend to be more violent than anyone else.

“In general they’re people who have been badly damaged,” says Dr. David Spiegel, a Stanford psychiatry professor. “The last thing they want to do is hurt anyone else.”...

Heidi’s children, who were raised as siblings to Donovan, aren’t sure what to believe. Todd thinks “Jeff” must be fake — but if an alternate personality is not to blame, who is?

“I don’t know how he would go from an innocent kid,” Todd says, “to what he is now.”..."

Stabbed 63 Times by Boyfriend's Teen Son, Murder Victim's Family Wonders What Drove Him to Kill
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
2 Champaign County teens sentenced to prison for years appeal

Two teens convicted in high-profile crimes in Champaign County are appealing their convictions.

Ely Serna, the teen who pleaded guilty to bringing a shotgun into West Liberty-Salem High School and randomly shooting a student, and Donovan Nicholas, the teen who was found guilty of shooting and stabbing his surrogate mother, both have filed appeals in Champaign County Common Pleas Court.
[.....]
"We do not currently know the basis for their appeals because neither appellate counsel has filed their brief as of yet,” Talebi said. “Nevertheless, it is the position of the state that Mr. Serna was convicted of a number offenses including attempted murder and received an appropriate sentence consistent with Ohio law. Regarding Mr. Nicholas, he was represented by an experienced attorney, he received a fair trial and was convicted of aggravated murder by an impartial jury.
 
Court Docket since appeal filed:

11/13/2018 MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE THE RECORD

11/28/2018 MAGISTRATE'S ORDER THAT APPELLANT'S RECORD IS NOW DUE TO BE FILED ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 14, 2019

01/08/2019 TRANSCRIPTS OF INITIAL APPEARANCE AND DETENTION HEARING DTD APRIL 7, 2017, PRETRIAL HEARING DTD APRIL 19, 2017, COMPETENCY HEARING DTD JUNE 15, 2017, AMENABILITY HEARING DTD OCT. 31, 2017, BOND HEARING DTD NOV. 21, 2017, ARRAIGNMENT HEARING DTD DEC. 19, 2017, STATUS MOTION HEARING DTD JAN. 22, 2018, STATUS CONFERENCE HEARING DTD MARCH 27, 2018, STATUS CONFERENCE HEARING DTD APRIL 3, 2018, PRETRIAL EXHIBIT ADMISSIBILITY HEARING DTD JUNE 25, 2018, STATUS CONFERENCE HEARING DTD JUNE 6, 2018, EXHIBIT REVIEW HEARING DTD JULY 10, 2018, MOTION HEARING ` DTD JULY 11, 2018, STATUS CONFERENCE HEARING DTD JULY 13, 2018, AND SENTENCING HEARING JULY 24, 2018

01/08/2019 TRANSFER OF EXHIBITS AND DEPOSITIONS

01/09/2019 TRANSCRIPTS OF JURY TRIAL DAY II DTD JULY 17, 2018 AND JURY TRIAL DAY III DTD JULY 18, 2018
01/09/2019 NOTICE OF COMPLETED RECORD ISSUED TO ATTY TIMOTHY HACKETT AND COUNTY PROSECUTOR

01/29/2019 MOTION TO SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD AND EXTEND TIME TO FILE THE MERIT BRIEF

02/22/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY REQUESTING CLERK TO SUPPLEMENT THE RECORDS WITH FILINGS;

02/28/2019 PSI REPORTS FILED WITH CLERK OF COURTS

03/01/2019 ADDITIONAL SUMMARY OF DOCKET AND JOURNAL ENTRIES FILED INCLUDING CONFIDENTIAL COMPETENCY TO STAND TRIAL; EVALUATION OF AMENABILITY FOR REHABILITATION REPORT AND GUARDIAN AD LITEM REPORT
03/01/2019 AMENDED NOTICE OF COMPLETED RECORD ISSUED TO ATTY TIMOTHY HACKETT AND COUNTY PROSECUTOR

03/22/2019 MOTION TO SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD, PERMIT COUNSEL TO COPY OR REVIEW EXHIBITS AND SEALED DOCUMENTS, AND TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE THE MERIT BRIEF

04/08/2019 CASE SENT TO COA PER JIM NEALON REQUEST

05/01/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF DECISION AND ENTRY STATING APPELLANT'S MOTION TO SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD....IS REMANDED BACK TO THE TRIAL COURTS

05/03/2019 CASE RETURNED FROM COA INDICATING ATTY FOR DEFT WISHES TO VIEW, COPY EXHIBITS AND FILINGS AND LISTEN TO AUDIO OF 911 CALL

05/24/2019 CERTIFIED COPY OF ENTRY GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION W - MOTION OT SUPPLEMENT RECORD WITH COST BILL AND OBTAIN COPIES OF SEALED EXHIBITS, CERTIFIED COPY OF COSTBILL AND COPY OF ENTRY ADDRESSING DEFENDANT'S MOTION X-VACATE OR SUSPEND COURT COSTS FROM 2017CR299 IN ENVELOPE IN BACK OF THE FOLDER AND NOW BEING PART OF THE RECORD PER ORDER OF THE COURT

link: https://eservices.champaignclerk.co...02kVw57wo0QrxmiDoFbhtV2BqYQi9hbj-AR*nIYVi5igw
 
Going thru my older cases - here's an update on the court site for this one, but no court date.

06/06/2019 DECISION AND ENTRY TO SUPPLEMENT RECORD AND TO ISSUE AMENDED 11(B) (RECORD WAS SUPPLEMENTED ON MAY 23, 2019-DATE OF TRIAL COURT ORDER)

06/07/2019 AMENDED NOTICE OF COMPLETED RECORD ISSUED TO ATTYS AND/OR PARTIES (COPY TO COA)

06/11/2019 MOTION FOR STAY AND LIMITED REMAND TO THE TRIAL COURT TO RULE ON A MOTION TO MODIFY THE COST BILL AND SUSPEND THE COLLECTION OF PROSECUTION AND ASSIGNED COUNSEL COSTS;MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT WITH EXHIBITS AND SERVICE FILED BY ATTY HACKETT

link: https://eservices.champaignclerk.co...RUKlyBUeitG*UBoV5TcAa6uwsqDpwWLCaf8Kg3ozk6EgA
 
Went by the house yesterday. The swing set still stands in the yard south of the farm house. There's a trampoline now in front of the swing set. The house, the barn, the fence and the lawn look the same and yet it looked different somehow to me. I finally realized what was different. No personality. The porch looked plain without the seasonal decorations on the front door and bordering the steps. Heidi is gone. RIP.
 
Going thru some my older cases - here's an update since I last posted from the court site.

07/08/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF DECISION STATES APPELLANT' S MOTION FOR STAY AND LIMITED REMAND TO THE TRIAL COURT TO RULE ON MOTION TO MODIFY THE COST BILL AND SUSPEND COLLECTION OF PROSECUTION AND ASSIGNED COUNSEL COSTS IS OVERRULED

07/23/2019 MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE THE MERIT BRIEF

08/01/2019 MAGISTRATE'S ORDER THAT APPELLANT'S BRIEF IS NOW DUE TO BE FILED ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 22, 2019

08/06/2019 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO EXCEED PAGE LIMITATION FILED AND SERVICE BY ATTY HACKETT

08/19/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF DECISION AND ENTRY DTD AUGUST 19,2019 STATING APPELLANT'S BRIEF SHALL NOT EXCEED 40 PAGES

08/23/2019 MERIT BRIEF OF DEFT FILED

09/03/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF MAGISTRATE'S ORDER DTD AUGUST 30, 2019 STATES REQUEST FOR ORAL ARGUMENT IS SUSTAINED

09/12/2019 APPELLEE'S FIRST MOTION TO ENLARGE TIME TO FILE BRIEF

09/20/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF MAGISTRATE'S ORDER ON SEPT. 18, 2019 STATES APPELLEE MOVED FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE THE BRIEF; MOTION IS SUSTAINED

10/02/2019 APPELLEE'S SECOND MOTION TO ENLARGE TIME IN WHICH TO FILE BRIEF;MEMORANDUM AND SERVICE FILED BY ATTY NAPIER

10/10/2019 MAGISTRATE'S ORDER OCTOBER 9, 2019. THE MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME IS SUSTAINED. APPELLEE'S BRIEF IS NOW DUE TO BE FILED ON OR BEFORE OCTOBER 22, 2019

10/22/2019 APPELLEE'S THIRD MOTION TO ENLARGE TIME IN WHICH TO FILE BRIEF FILED AND SERVICED BY ASST PROS JANE A NAPIER

10/30/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF MAGISTRATE'S ORDER STATES APPELLEE'S MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE THE BRIEF IS SUSTAINED

11/12/2019 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE BRIEF WHICH EXCEEDS THE PAGE LIMIT INSTANTER

11/12/2019 BRIEF OF APPELLEE FILED

11/18/2019 FILE SENT TO COA BY UPS

11/25/2019 REPLY BRIEF OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT, DONOVAN NICHOLAS FILED BY ATTY HACKETT

11/25/2019 DECISION AND ENTRY NOVEMBER 25, 2019- THE STATE OF OHIO'S ANSWER BRIEF IS ACCEPTED AS FILED ON NOVEMBER 12, 2019.

11/25/2019 THIS CASE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED FOR ORAL ARGUMENT FOR 9:30 AM TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS COURTROOM, DAYTON OHIO

11/27/2019 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMENDED REPLY BRIEF FILED AND SERVICE BY ATTY HACKETT

11/27/2019 AMENDED REPLY BRIEF OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT, DONOVAN NICHOLAS FILED BY ATTY HACKETT

12/09/2019 DECISION AND ENTRY THAT APPELLANT'S AMENDED REPLY BRIEF IS ACCEPTED AS FILED ON NOVEMBER 27, 2019;APPELLANT'S REPLY BRIEF FILED ON NOVEMBER 25, 2019 IS STRICKEN

link: https://eservices.champaignclerk.co...B2drRSkFo8l2Aj2yhORM90Ba-6btyC-q3vrDluZAmb5eQ
 
Tuesday, January 7th:
*Oral Arguments Hearing (@ 9:30am ET) - OH – Heidi Fay Taylor (40) (April 6, 2017) father’s fiancée – Donovan S. Nicholas (17/14 @ time of crime) charged with aggravated murder & murder. Tried as adult. Plead not guilty. Said alternate personality (Jeff) forced him to kill).
Trial started 7/16/18: jurors reached a verdict in 3 hours of deliberation of guilty. Sentenced to life, eligible for parole in 28 years.
7/27/18 Update: Appeal filed. 9/5/18: Motion for court appointed counsel filed. 9/26/18: Appointed counsel. 8/23/19: Merit brief for defendant filed. 1/29/19: Motion to supplement the record & extend time to file the merit brief. 4/8/19: Case sent to COA per Jim Nealon request. 8/23/19: Merit brief of defendant filed. 10/10/19: Motion for extension of time is sustained. Appellee's brief is now due to be filed on or before 10/22/19. 10/22/19: Appellee's 3rd motion to extend time is sustained. 11/12/19: Brief of appeal filed.
11/25/19 Update: Oral Arguments hearing on 1/7/20 in the Court of Appeals.
 
here's an update on the court site since I last posted it.

12/26/2019 JOURNAL ENTRY OF DECISION AND ENTRY STATING RECORD SHALL BE CORRECTED TO INCLUDE THE WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT OF DAY ONE TRIAL PROCEEDINGS; CLERK SHALL ISSUE AN AMENDED RULE 11B

12/26/2019 AMENDED NOTICE OF COMPLETED RECORD ISSUED TO COUNTY PROSECUTOR AND ATTY TIMOTHY HACKETT

06/26/2020 JOURNAL ENTRY OF OPINION RENDERED ON JUNE 26, 2020 STATES THE JUDGMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT IS AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND THIS CAUSE IS REMANDED TO THE TRIAL COURT SOLEY FOR THE PURPOSES OF CORRECTING THE COST BILL CONCERNING APPOINTED COUNSEL FEES, CLARIFYING THE AMOUNT OF THE COST BILL ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE RESPONSES TO APPELLANT'S MOTIONS AND CLARIFYING FOR COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS PROVIDED TO THE OHIO PUBLIC DEFENDER.

06/26/2020 JOURNAL ENTRY OF FINAL ENTRY PURSUANT TO THE OPINION OF THIS COURT RENDERED ON JUNE 26, 2020 STATES THE JUDGMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT IS AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND THIS CAUSE IS REMANDED TO THE TRIAL COURT SOLEY FOR THE PURPOSES OF CORRECTING THE COST BILL CONCERNING APPOINTED COUNSEL FEES, CLARIFYING THE AMOUNT OF THE COST BILL ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE RESPONSES TO APPELLANT'S MOTIONS AND CLARIFYING FOR COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS PROVIDED TO THE OHIO PUBLIC DEFENDER.

06/26/2020 NOTICE OF FILING ISSUED TO COUNTY PROSECUTOR AND ATTY HACKETT

07/02/2020 APPLICATION FOR RECONSIDERATION AND EN BANC CONSIDERATION FILED BY ATTY HACKETT

link: https://eservices.champaignclerk.co...2qATd*NQ3SGTTx4SqqVe0JC6X0CCI9fSwy17etXVv*1bg



Not sure "what" - EN BANC means.... so looked it up! :)

In law, an en banc session (French for "in bench") is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a panel of judges selected from them. ... En banc review is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance.

So - this is what his attorney Hackett filed for on 7/2.
 
Sooo... Did he win the appeal "in part"? But part was reversed?

" JOURNAL ENTRY OF OPINION RENDERED ON JUNE 26, 2020 STATES THE JUDGMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT IS AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND THIS CAUSE IS REMANDED TO THE TRIAL COURT SOLEY FOR THE PURPOSES OF CORRECTING THE COST BILL CONCERNING APPOINTED COUNSEL FEES, CLARIFYING THE AMOUNT OF THE COST BILL ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE RESPONSES TO APPELLANT'S MOTIONS AND CLARIFYING FOR COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS PROVIDED TO THE OHIO PUBLIC DEFENDER."

Sounds like verdict was affirmed but the financial part of the defense was in question??

Thank you, Niner, for checking on this.
 
I have NO idea @lisette - about "which" part was reversed or vis-a-verse.... sorry - Maybe a lawyer will stop by - let's see the only one I know for sure is @gitana1

gitana - post #57 & 58 - ?? Do you think you can explain? TIA! :)
 
lisette said:
Sooo... Did he win the appeal "in part"? But part was reversed?

" JOURNAL ENTRY OF OPINION RENDERED ON JUNE 26, 2020 STATES THE JUDGMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT IS AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND THIS CAUSE IS REMANDED TO THE TRIAL COURT SOLEY FOR THE PURPOSES OF CORRECTING THE COST BILL CONCERNING APPOINTED COUNSEL FEES, CLARIFYING THE AMOUNT OF THE COST BILL ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE RESPONSES TO APPELLANT'S MOTIONS AND CLARIFYING FOR COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS PROVIDED TO THE OHIO PUBLIC DEFENDER."

Sounds like verdict was affirmed but the financial part of the defense was in question??

Thank you, Niner, for checking on this.
Click to expand...

That’s what it appears to me to be.
 
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