Case Summaries

St. Louis County Police Officer Found Guilty of Second-Degree Assault

Police officer Thomas Zeigler, aged 31, of St. Louis County was found guilty of second-degree assault in January 2005, following an incident that took place in March 2003. Zeigler was alleged to have fired a shot that hit his girlfriend Patricia March, another police officer, in the face in the early hours of the morning.

Officers were called to the scene to find the couple sitting in Zeigler’s car, with Zeigler holding a towel to March’s face. Once the extent of her injuries was made clear, March was taken to hospital by ambulance. Zeigler claimed at this point that he believed she had shot herself and the officers on the scene, who knew both members of the couple, were initially willing to take this statement at face value, although Zeigler’s hands were tested for gunshot residue.

Later that day after being interviewed at the station, officers became suspicious. Zeigler’s story was confused, and the details kept changing. When asked in the hospital if she had shot herself, March replied negatively. At this time, she claimed to know who had shot her but would not tell the investigators. After reading Zeigler his Miranda rights, officers obtained a warrant for the car the couple had been found in, where they discovered quantities of cocaine and pot, marijuana and crack pipes, and multiple empty beer bottles.

Zeigler later admitted while being interviewed that he had been holding the gun when it went off, but that it was being used as part of a sex game that went wrong.

March was said to be recovering but suffered extensive injuries, including the loss of one eye and its replacement with a glass prosthetic. She also underwent several surgeries to rebuild bone and remove bullet fragments from the facial area. She was still on disability leave at the time of the trial.

Zeigler was also charged with possession of controlled substances, namely marijuana and cocaine. He presented several different versions of events when questioned by detectives on the day of the shooting and later admitted he had told them what he believed they wanted to hear after being told he might never see his children again.

March testified against Zeigler, stating they had been in an argument after she had tried to break up with him.

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Man Acquitted of Historical Rape Charge at Retrial in St. Louis County

Rick Cusumano appeared in court in February 2010 to be tried for three felony rape charges, from an incident dating back to August 1998. Cusumano was tried on three counts of sexual assault on one woman: a felony of forcible rape while threatening with a visible deadly weapon; a felony of forcible sodomy while threatening with a visible deadly weapon; and a felony of subjecting forcible rape upon the woman with more than one person.

Cusumano was found guilty of lesser offenses for the first two counts in September 2010, which were unclassified felonies of forcible rape and sodomy rather than class A felonies. The jury could not reach a verdict on the final count, which was later scheduled for retrial. Two concurrent life sentences were handed down on this date.

Cusumano reappeared in court in January 2011, where a new jury convicted him of the final count and a third consecutive life sentence was awarded. The court later affirmed an appeal on the class A felony of forcible rape judgement. Cusumano also filed a motion for post-conviction relief, claiming the assistance of counsel had been ineffective. After an evidentiary hearing, this motion was denied, although Cusumano later appealed this decision.

He was later acquitted of two historical felony rape charges in 2016, after the appeals court found errors made by his defense lawyer. One rape conviction was not overturned and Cusumano continues to serve a life sentence, with his first parole hearing scheduled for 2023.

Cusumano and another unidentified man allegedly grabbed the woman as she was walking, threatened her with a gun, dragged her behind a building and raped her. After two trials, Cusumano was convicted on two counts of rape and one of sodomy. The second attacker was never brought to trial. Cusumano claims the sex was consensual and the woman wanted to have an affair with him. Neither the alleged victim nor the police officer who investigated the case were available to attend the appeal, with transcripts of their earlier testimonies read out in court instead.

Sam Lawrence, one the lawyers for the defense, told the jury that the victim’s story was unbelievable and did not make sense. The prosecution labelled this insulting and disgusting, However, the courts decided to overturn two of the three charges, leaving Cusumano with only a few years left of his life sentence to serve.

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Recently Convicted Toddler Killer Returns to Court on Contempt Charges

In August 2011, Anthony O’Neal returned to court for the second time in just a matter of weeks, charged with contempt of court after spitting in the face of the court clerk. He was sentenced to five months and 20 days, to be added on to the life sentence he had received a few weeks earlier for the second-degree murder of his girlfriend’s 14-month old child. With members of the court taking no chances of a repeat performance, O’Neal entered the courtroom wearing a mask and a mesh bag over his face.

Upon request from his defense attorney, O’Neal was permitted to remove the mask but not the bag to stand trial. The judge commented not only on the contempt charges but also on the murder of Josie Sproaps, the murdered toddler.

O’Neal had been left in charge of the girl overnight while her mother Brittany Blanks, a nurse’s assistant in a nursing home, worked a night shift. The mother returned from work to find her daughter dead after what was clearly a savage beating.

Josie was discovered dead with tears to internal organs, including tearing round the anus, multiple bruises and burns over her body and severe head trauma. John Quarenghi, assistant prosecutor, stated in his closing argument that no human being, child or even animal should have to suffer what little Josie suffered.

The defense attempted to pin the blame on Blanks, stating that she must have beaten the child herself before placing her in bed with O’Neal, who they claimed was half-asleep at the time, before leaving for work. O’Neal denied beating the toddler and claimed instead that she had woken him in the night by crying out after being burned on a space heater. He testified that he had tended to her burns with a wet washcloth and gone back to sleep.

O’Neal denied all knowledge of what had happened to the child and did not waver from his story. However, medical examinations showed that the eggs fed to Josie by her mother before leaving for work were still relatively intact, meaning the beating and her death must have occurred within an hour of the meal.

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Dermatologist Pleads Guilty to Charges of Child Sexual Abuse

Dr Jerome Aronberg, a dermatologist from Clayton, appeared in court in January 2011 on charges of child molestation, after allegedly committing several acts of abuse on a teenage girl over a period of several years.

Aronberg pleaded guilty to several charges two days into testimony. Sentencing for three counts of second-degree child molestation, six counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of first-degree statutory sodomy was scheduled to take place in the St. Louis County Circuit Court the following week.

Prosecutor John Quarenghi told the court during his opening arguments that the victim had previously told friends and the police that Aronberg had molested her. However, at the start of the trial, the victim’s testimony said the defendant had not touched her in her private areas.

Aronberg admitted to touching the girl inappropriately to both his wife during a jailhouse telephone conversation and to the police. He was originally charged with the molestation of a second victim, although charges were dropped in that case.

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Babysitter Pleads Guilty to Second-Degree Murder in Shaken Baby Case

A babysitter has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder following the death of a child she had shaken as a baby. Amy Johnson, 44, served a year for assault after shaking Kelsey McGinnis, a two-month old baby who had been left in her care, causing brain damage. Johnson, who at the time tried to cover up her actions, eventually pled guilty to child endangerment and second-degree assault in court. She completed her probation in 2000 and has never been charged with another crime.

After a childhood spent unable to walk, talk or feed herself, Kelsey McGinnis eventually passed away in 2007, aged just 13 years old. Johnson was then charged with second-degree murder in a move unprecedented in St. Louis Country, with prosecutors determining there were enough elements of this charge that differentiated it from the earlier assault charge to be able to try Johnson for it as a separate crime.

Assistant prosecutor John Quarenghi stated he was supremely confident he would have been able to prove to a murder jury that the shaking was the cause of Kelsey’s death. However, Johnson accepted a plea deal in which she admitted to voluntary manslaughter and accepted a recommended sentence of 14 years, rather than risk being given more than twice that if convicted of murder.

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Appeal Claim Overturned for Convicted Murderer

Convicted murdered Patrick Tobias had his claim to appeal the court’s verdict overturned, following a review of the appeal and the briefs of both parties. Tobias, who was sentenced to life without parole upon conviction for murder in the first degree, claimed the court abused its discretion on two points, specifically in overruling his objections during the closing argument of the State and in its denial of Tobias’ motion for a new trial. The courts affirmed that there was no merit to the claim of error and furnished each party with a memorandum opinion setting out the facts for their information.

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Man Convicted on Three Counts of Statutory Sodomy

Clinton T. Reynolds, a 34-year old man from St. Peters, was convicted in Warren County on three counts of statutory sodomy. A fourth count of statutory sodomy resulted in a not-guilty verdict. Reynolds was accused of assaulting a four-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl when living near Warrenton. The prosecutor for Warren County Jennifer Bartlett tried the case, which took two days. Bartlett commented afterwards on the horrific nature of the crimes, which she stated affect not only the victims but also their families and the wider community.

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Man Convicted of Child Pornography Possession Has Appeal Dismissed

Samuel Selsor was sentenced to concurrent terms of five years’ imprisonment after a jury found him guilty on two counts of possessing child pornography in violation of the law. Selsor later tried to appeal the decision based on an error of law. The Missouri Court of Appeals determined that no such error had occurred and furnished each party with a memorandum opinion, stating all the relevant information and setting forth the reasons why the appeal was dismissed. The trial court’s judgement is affirmed in accordance with Rule 30.25(b).

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Convicted Rapist Appeals Judgement of Court

A convicted rapist in the State of Missouri attempted to appeal the decision of the trial court after being sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The defendant Patrick Cooper was tried on one count of incest, four counts of first degree sodomy and one count of first degree statutory rape, with guilty verdicts returned by the jury on all charges.

Cooper’s daughter, aged 11 at the time, disclosed to a teacher that her father had sexually abused her. Although Cooper denied the allegations at arrest, he later admitted to the abuse. The jury recommended sentences of 17 years for the statutory rape charge, three years for the incest charge and five years for each of the sodomy charges. The final decision of the judge was a 20-year prison sentence.

The defendant appealed the decision of the court, arguing that the trial court erred by not responding to jury notes, failing to declare a mistrial, and reconsidering its initial grant of a mistrial, because it coerced the jury into finding him guilty; by failing to strike the closing argument of the State; and on two other points of appeal.

However, after investigating all points of the appeal, the courts ruled the judgement of the trial court to be affirmed.

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Warren County Court Verdict Appealed After Conviction for Robbery

The verdict of the Circuit Court of Warren County was appealed by defendant James Lewis following his dual convictions for second-degree robbery and resisting arrest. Lewis was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms, with sentencing accounting for his persistent prior offences.

A term of 30 years was handed down for the robbery, with an additional seven years for resisting arrest. Witnesses testified during the trial that Lewis had been seen snatching a woman’s purse and running away, although the purse was later recovered following Lewis’s arrest.

Lewis later appealed the verdict of the court on two counts, namely that the court had erred. Firstly, Lewis claimed, by denying his motion for acquittal based on insufficient evidence of using physical force during the theft, which is a key component of determining a robbery charge. Secondly, by failing to declare a mistrial after the State disclosed information about his prior warrants for arrest.

After deliberation, the verdict of the court was upheld. The appeals court decreed that use of sufficient force was in evidence to uphold the robbery charge and that manifest injustice was not caused by the closing argument of the State in which the prior warrants were disclosed. A clerical error was corrected within the written judgement, to accurately reflect the persistent nature of Lewis’s crimes.

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