By Brett Milam
Editor
A Franklin, Ohio woman was found guilty in the overdose death of Ryan Richmond after a three-day jury trial that concluded on June 9.
The potential five-day 12-person jury trial began on June 7, but only needed until June 9 to come to a conclusion in Clermont County Common Pleas Court.
Lindsay Haines, 39, was found guilty on all five charges: felony involuntary manslaughter, two counts of corrupting another with drugs, one felony count of trafficking in heroin, and one felony count of aggravated trafficking in drugs.
The case stems back to Dec. 2, 2017, although Haines wasn’t formally indicted until September 2020.
Alexis Hartman, assistant county prosecutor, said that on Dec. 2, 2017, Haines delivered drugs to Richmond at a residence on Clermont Lane in Batavia sometime in the afternoon. When Richmond ingested the drugs, he overdosed.
Haines returned to the house later that evening to receive payment for the drugs and found Richmond unconscious.
He later died at the age of 33.
In a search of the residence, police found two baggies and a syringe.
The drugs were later tested, and the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office issued a report on Feb. 7, 2018 that the cause of death was heroin overdose with cocaine metabolite and fentanyl also present. The Coroner also listed Hepatitis C and left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy as contributing causes of death.
LVH, or an enlarged heart, means that the heart’s left pumping chamber has thickened and may not be pumping efficiently, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The latter is what caused a “pause” on the investigation, as well as an apparent hack of Union Township’s computer system, resulting in lost records between July 2018 and February 2020, including information on Richmond’s death, Detective Brandon Bishop testified. The COVID-19 pandemic also delayed matters.
By April 2020, Bishop spoke to Robert Topmiller, the chief toxicologist at the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office about his concerns that Hepatitis C caused the death, and was satisfied charges were appropriate against Haines.
Ahead of the trial, Haines’ attorneys, Jim Arnold and Brittany Born of the Arnold Law Firm in Cincinnati, filed a motion in April to dismiss the case for unjustifiable delay.
Arnold said the indictment on the offense didn’t come until 33 months after, even though the State had toxicology reports from the Hamilton County Crime Laboratory on Dec. 11, 2017 and Feb. 7, 2018. In addition, the underlying analysis of blood and tissue samples were destroyed by the experts and unavailable for independent analysis, prejudicing Haines, he said.
He also pointed to the opinion of Dr. Robert Belloto, from Beavercreek, Ohio, that the morphine level was consistent with two smaller doses of heroin, rather than one large dose. The defense argument being, if it was two smaller doses, then the State cannot prove the heroin allegedly provided by Haines caused Richmond’s death. Further, that text messages between Haines and Richmond five hours before his death is the only evidence the State had provided against Haines.
In his letter to Arnold, Belloto said it was interesting that there were two baggies, with one having traces of tremadol and the other not.
“It is therefore possible that he took the one with the tremadol first and then a short time later, took a second dose,” he said.
Zachary Zipperer, assistant county prosecuter, responded to the motion by saying defense haven’t established actual prejudice, and in fact, contradict their own case by saying they can’t perform independent tests while also pointing to an expert who was able to form an expert opinion on what Richmond overdosed on.
On May 20, Judge Anthony Brock denied Haines’ motion to dismiss, noting that the State demonstrated justification for its delay.
The case was presented on behalf of the State by assistant county prosecutors Zipperer and Katie Terpstra.
The first half of the first day of the trial consisted of jury selection for all 12 jurors.
After an hour-long lunch break, opening remarks were delivered.
In openings, Terpstra said throughout the trial, the jury will hear how Richmond suffered from substance abuse issues, but his roommates at the house in Batavia and his friends were “attempting to get him back on his feet to get his life back together and get off of drugs.”
Arnold in his opening reiterated to the jury that the defense wasn’t able to do their own independent testing of the blood and tissue samples that showed heroin and fentanyl in Richmond’s body.
“This case is sad. Her friend dies. She was there. The evidence will show that she was the one that was performing CPR on him when she found him trying to bring him back to life or save his life; she’s the one who called 9-1-1,” he said.
He also said that the detectives in the case came up with the conclusion first and worked backward on inferences to get there.
Throughout the trial, Haines’ parents, and one of her friends, were in attendance.
After openings, the State presented its case, calling witnesses, Officers Ryan Maynard and Alex Smith of the Union Township Police Department, both of whom were the first officers on the scene after the overdose. Medical personnel also arrived at the same time as the officers.
Maynard said EMS tried Narcan, the opioid counteracting drug typically used during overdoses, but Richmond didn’t respond to it.
The next day of the trial, June 8, the State called Thomas Baker, one of Richmond’s friends at the house that evening, as a witness. Richmond also did carpentry for Baker.
Baker said Richmond had a “soft heart and was a good guy.” They lived with each other for about two to three months prior to Richmond’s death.
He did mention being aware of Richmond’s heroin addiction.
“I didn’t want him to use drugs around me. Basically, we drug-tested him every week,” he said, noting that he was actively working to get Richmond off of drugs. “I help people who need help, that’s what I do.”
Next up on the stand was Detective Bishop. Something pivotal to the State’s case was demonstrating that Bishop wasn’t purposefully ignoring the case between 2018 and 2020, but rather, the issues with the security breach, COVID-19 and overall caseload caused that delay.
Bishop said he has anywhere between 40 to 60 felony-level cases pending at a time.
Bishop testified that in Clermont County, they typically encounter “street dealer” trafficking in drugs, which means smaller amounts, and that typically, heroin and fentanyl create a greater chance for overdose deaths.
He also testified that on Dec. 2, 2017, the only text messages on Richmond’s phone concerning the trafficking and obtaining of drugs were between Haines and Richmond, and not anyone else.
Arnold’s argument for the defense was that Bishop cherry-picked the text messages between Haines and Richmond, and had the conclusion that Haines was to blame from the beginning.
One of the defense arguments that came up on cross-exam from Arnold was the matter of an anonymous caller from Oxford, Ohio who told police that Richmond was on Snapchat 20 minutes prior to being found overdosing.
Arnold insinuated that it’s feasible Richmond could have communicated suicidal intentions on Snapchat, painting his death in a different manner, but that Bishop didn’t follow up on what was said.
That caller also indicated that someone else named Josh sold drugs to Richmond, and then Arnold brought up in the call log on Richmond’s phone, where he talked to someone named Josh after 7 p.m. the night of his death.
On redirect, Zipperer asked Bishop if there was anything on Richmond’s phone that showed discussions of drug trafficking between him and the guy named Josh. Bishop said no.
The State also called Detective Ken Mullis from Union Township to explain how the forensics with a cell phone work; Brian Scowden, chief drug analyst and Laura Kimble, senior drug chemist, at the Hamilton County Coroner’s Crime Laboratory, both of whom explained how the lab credibly tests for drugs; and Topmiller to explain his toxicology report and how when heroin enters the body it metabolizes into morphine. That morphine, as well as codeine (but in a lesser amount), then shows up in the tests the labs run indicating heroin use.
“It’s certainly a significant amount that’s present in this person’s urine,” Topmiller said.
Dr. Greta Stephens, the deputy coroner in Hamilton County, also testified as well, to explain how an autopsy of an overdose death works. She also explained Richmond’s other medical conditions, such as being a smoker, Hepatitis C, and the LVH.
Stephens said the Hepatitis C wouldn’t have been fatal in and of itself, and it’s also treatable now.
She also explained that heroin can kill at 0.1 milligrams, and Richmond had 0.4 milligrams in his body.
The State rested, as well as the defense, on June 9 at about 11:40 a.m.
In closing statements, Zipperer and Terpstra both leaned heavily on the text messages between Haines and Richmond to show Haines was trafficking in drugs and bringing drugs to his house.
Terpstra added in her particular statement that the drugs Haines brought caused Richmond’s overdose and death.
“Those text messages aren’t about delivering half a loaf of bread,” she said.
Arnold’s closing statement reiterated that the case was sad, but the government’s case is based on an “inference upon an inference and that does not rise to beyond reasonable doubt.”
He said the detectives were trying to read the minds of Richmond and Haines and that the investigation was “inadequate.”
Arnold believed the detectives should have followed up with other people Richmond communicated with on that day.
The jury left for deliberations at 3:19 p.m. on June 9.
Exactly four hours later at 7:19 p.m., the jury came back with its verdict, finding Haines guilty on all counts.
Sentencing is set for June 30 at 9 a.m.
In an email to The Sun about what the State will be recommending for sentencing, Terpstra said, “We will be asking for a lengthy prison term. I have not yet decided if I’m going to request a specific number or if I will leave it more generic, but either way we will be recommending a significant prison term.”