Jury deliberations ongoing in Lima murder trial

Yahoo

12-04-2025

Apr. 11—LIMA — Jury deliberations in the case of Michael Oliphant, charged with murder in the Feb. 25, 2023, shooting death of Kirk Perine, got a late start Friday after a morning that included a rebuttal witness from the state and an extended conversation that ultimately led to the removal of one juror from the panel.
Following closing arguments from attorneys and instructions from Judge Terri Kohlrieser, the jury did not receive the case until approximately 5:30 p.m. Friday. No verdict had been reached when The Lima News went to press.
Oliphant, 23, of Lima, is charged with murder in connection to Perine's death. He also faces charges of felonious assault for allegedly firing a weapon in the direction of two employees of Feltz Chiropractic that same afternoon. The bulk of testimony and evidence presented during the five-day trial pointed to Oliphant as the likely shooter, both in Perine's death and at the chiropractic office shortly prior to that.
The 59-year-old Perine was found by police inside a white Buick in the 100 block of North Rosedale Avenue. He had suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. The fatal bullet had been fired from outside the vehicle and passed through the front passenger-side window, investigators said.
A Beretta 9mm pistol said to have been used in both shootings was found by police in an alley behind 211 N. Kenilworth Ave., near the murder scene, and was sent to to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for analysis. A forensic scientist from that agency testified that DNA matching Oliphant's was found on four separate areas of the weapon.
On Thursday jurors watched video of an interview with the Lima man while he was in custody at the Lima Police Department on the evening of the shooting. When advised by LPD Detective Matt Boss that he was under arrest on a charge of murder, Oliphant appeared stunned.
"I killed someone? Who?" he asked emphatically. "I didn't mean to kill anyone."
Insanity defense
Attorneys Steve Chamberlain and Ken Sturgill from the Allen County Public Defenders Office early in the case had filed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on behalf of their client. By law that plea requires that evidence be presented by the defense that proves Oliphant was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the offense.
The defense called just one witness in their portion of the case. Dr. Bob Stinson, a licensed psychologist who did an extensive review of Oliphant's mental health history, cited a diagnosis from doctors at Mercy Health-St. Rita's Medical Center in May 2020 and again in December of 2022 — two months before the death of Perine — that said Oliphant suffered from paranoia and bipolar disorder and was exhibiting psychotic behavior and was "completely unstable and grossly psychotic."
That convinced Stinson that Oliphant was legally insane at the time of the shootings. He said Dr. Massimo DeMarchis, who performed an initial psychological evaluation of the defendant at the request of the court, wrote that he found no evidence that Michael Oliphant had a mental defect at the time of the incident.
"That's just wrong," Stinson said. "There were three years of evidence."
DeMarchis supported his findings during testimony Friday. He said Oliphant, during an evaluation at the Forensic Psychiatry Center of Western Ohio in Dayton, claimed to have been "hearing voices" and believed he was being pursued by "shadowy demonic figures" on the afternoon in question. DeMarchis said he believed those stories to be "fabricated and untrue." His formal findings included an opinion that "despite suffering from severe mental health disease," Oliphant did understand the wrongfulness of his actions" on Feb. 15, 2023.
Juror excused
An alternate juror was summoned into action Friday after Judge Terri Kohlrieser dismissed one male jury member from the panel prior to closing arguments.
An issue arose Thursday concerning a juror who had contact outside the courtroom with members of the defendant's family on successive days. The male juror — the lone person of color on the panel — was seen on court security video approaching Oliphant's father and sister during breaks in the trial.
Questioned by the judge, the man said he was merely asking the two individuals for cigarettes, a claim disputed by prosecutors. Prosecutor Destiny Caldwell asked Kohlrieser to remove the man from the jury, based on his acceptance of "gifts" from people he knew to be family members of the defendant. Chamberlain objected and asked Kohlrieser to deny the motion. The judge allowed the jurist to remain seated throughout the day on Thursday.
Kohlrieser on Friday said she had researched the matter overnight but allowed lawyers to make additional comments. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kyle Thines repeated the state's assertion that the juror had compromised his integrity and reliability by reaching out to known members of the defendant's family. "The state has grave concerns about his fairness and impartiality ... and feels this juror should be removed," Thines said.
Chamberlain argued there was no evidence of misconduct by the juror, only an unfounded suspicion by the state that additional conversation had taken place. "And frankly the belief of the state doesn't hold much weight," he said.
Kohlrieser disagreed, saying the juror had demonstrated he was "no longer able to perform his duties."
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