Elwood found guilty of burglary, but not rape
NORWICH – A jury has found a pink machine-gun burglar guilty of attacking and threatening a 58-year-old woman in her home but decided he was not criminally responsible for her sexual assault at the hands of his partner in crime.
After two and a half days of trial, it took a jury an hour and a half of deliberations before returning with a verdict late Wednesday evening.
At approximately 6:08 p.m., the jury reported that they had found Jonathan “Joe” Elwood, 30, of Ashcraft Road, Norwich, guilty of five of the eight counts against him.
Elwood was found guilty of three counts of first degree burglary, one for injuring the woman during the break-in, one for using a deadly instrument (weapon) and another for using a loaded firearm. He was also found guilty of first degree criminal use of a firearm and a misdemeanor, petit larceny, for stealing up to $50 and a telephone.
Of the top charge against him, predatory sexual assault, the jury found Elwood not guilty. The jury also vacated Elwood for his involvement in the sexual attack upon the victim perpetrated by his partner, Stephen R. Ohl, 24, Lawrence Road, Sherburne. They found Elwood not guilty of first degree rape and not guilty of first degree criminal sexual act – in essence all the sex crimes levied against him.
“We’re very happy with the verdict, but we are disappointed the jury didn’t conceive the acting in concert concept, which can be a difficult one to grasp. A man with a gun who is standing a few feet away from his co-defendant while he was raping this poor woman is acting in concert. The jury did their work and now we’ve got to roll forward with it. Mr. Elwood will now be removed from our community for up to 25 years,” said District Attorney Joseph McBride.
Elwood took the stand yesterday and was the only witness called by the defense. He denied any involvement in the crime, saying he was misled by his life-long friend, Ohl, whom he referred to as his “little brother.” He said the two men were smoking pot and drinking Jack Daniels through the day of the December 2006 crime while they were trying to sell a fully automatic AK-47 with a 30-round magazine.
The gun was later recovered by police and had been altered by the man who purchased it from Ohl after the crime took place. He testified in court that at the time he bought the weapon, it had fully automatic capability and was painted pink. “When you held the trigger down it discharged rounds until the magazine was empty,” said Matthew M. Willis on the stand.
Elwood said it was getting late and he wanted to go home to see his girlfriend and 6-year-old daughter. According to Elwood, Ohl said he had one last place to attempt to sell the weapon, to an elderly woman his girlfriend’s father worked for. So at 11:30 p.m. the two men drove to the residence at State Hwy. 12B in the Town of Sherburne. Ohl then left the car, went up the house and broke in, leaving the gun in the car with Elwood.
In comparison to earlier accounts given to police, Elwood gave several contradicting statements on the stand, prompting McBride to read through every line of the recorded March interview. Elwood claimed police denied him a lawyer and forced him into signing a statement, telling him a judge would take his daughter away.
In cross examination by McBride, he asked, “Is it true you’d do anything to be with your daughter Mr. Elwood?” “I wouldn’t lie sir,” responded Elwood. “You wouldn’t lie? Didn’t you just explain to this jury how the police made you sign a statement over your daughter? Are you telling me now that everything in that statement is true or did you lie?” asked McBride. “Parts are true,” said the defendant. “Does that mean that some parts are a lie?” queried the DA. “Yes,” responded Elwood after several moments of pause.
On the stand Elwood recanted much of the written statement. “So what you’re telling us is you were just the wrong guy in the wrong place with an AK-47 and a stupid friend?” said McBride.
Elwood admitted to bringing the gun into the house after he made sure it was unloaded because he heard screaming after watching Ohl break down the door. He also admitted to stealing the phones out of the house and lying to investigators at the time of his arrest. “I was scared. I didn’t want to go to jail. I wanted to see my daughter grow up,” said Elwood.
During the cross examination, McBride said, “Let me get this right sir ... You watched your buddy break into some house at 11:30 at night, then you decided to leave the scene, but then after hearing a women’s scream you decided take your machine gun and go into the house with it instead?”
“The night in question you never did ask the lady if she wanted to buy the gun while you had it in your hands, did you?” asked McBride. “What do you think?” responded Elwood. “I know you didn’t,” said McBride.
In closing, defense attorney Linden D. Summers told jurors, “No one denies a crime took place. It is a fearsome crime. The person responsible for that crime appeared in this court – Mr. Ohl.” Summers pointed out that Elwood did not tie the victim up, that the victim herself said Ohl was the one who hit her and that his client had nothing to do with her rape. “He was the wrong person, wrong place, wrong time, and clearly he should’ve done things differently, but he didn’t. But he is not the man responsible for the crimes that took place that night,” said Summers.
“What you have to remember is in concert, a person in concert is just as responsible as Mr. Ohl for the rape. Think of it like a team – in football you have a quarterback, a running back and a wide receiver. They each have their own task but they all have the same goal – a touchdown. Mr. Elwood’s goal that night was the same as Mr. Ohl’s – to commit a crime,” said McBride.
McBride used the defendant’s own testimony against him by talking about how he stood with his back to Ohl for ‘7 or 8 minutes’ while the rape took place. “It’s ridiculous. It defies logic and it defies credibility,” said McBride.
Elwood was remanded to the county jail and will be sentenced at a later date. At sentencing the victim will have the right to address the court and the defendant before the judge makes a final decision. He faces up to 25 years in state prison.
After two and a half days of trial, it took a jury an hour and a half of deliberations before returning with a verdict late Wednesday evening.
At approximately 6:08 p.m., the jury reported that they had found Jonathan “Joe” Elwood, 30, of Ashcraft Road, Norwich, guilty of five of the eight counts against him.
Elwood was found guilty of three counts of first degree burglary, one for injuring the woman during the break-in, one for using a deadly instrument (weapon) and another for using a loaded firearm. He was also found guilty of first degree criminal use of a firearm and a misdemeanor, petit larceny, for stealing up to $50 and a telephone.
Of the top charge against him, predatory sexual assault, the jury found Elwood not guilty. The jury also vacated Elwood for his involvement in the sexual attack upon the victim perpetrated by his partner, Stephen R. Ohl, 24, Lawrence Road, Sherburne. They found Elwood not guilty of first degree rape and not guilty of first degree criminal sexual act – in essence all the sex crimes levied against him.
“We’re very happy with the verdict, but we are disappointed the jury didn’t conceive the acting in concert concept, which can be a difficult one to grasp. A man with a gun who is standing a few feet away from his co-defendant while he was raping this poor woman is acting in concert. The jury did their work and now we’ve got to roll forward with it. Mr. Elwood will now be removed from our community for up to 25 years,” said District Attorney Joseph McBride.
Elwood took the stand yesterday and was the only witness called by the defense. He denied any involvement in the crime, saying he was misled by his life-long friend, Ohl, whom he referred to as his “little brother.” He said the two men were smoking pot and drinking Jack Daniels through the day of the December 2006 crime while they were trying to sell a fully automatic AK-47 with a 30-round magazine.
The gun was later recovered by police and had been altered by the man who purchased it from Ohl after the crime took place. He testified in court that at the time he bought the weapon, it had fully automatic capability and was painted pink. “When you held the trigger down it discharged rounds until the magazine was empty,” said Matthew M. Willis on the stand.
Elwood said it was getting late and he wanted to go home to see his girlfriend and 6-year-old daughter. According to Elwood, Ohl said he had one last place to attempt to sell the weapon, to an elderly woman his girlfriend’s father worked for. So at 11:30 p.m. the two men drove to the residence at State Hwy. 12B in the Town of Sherburne. Ohl then left the car, went up the house and broke in, leaving the gun in the car with Elwood.
In comparison to earlier accounts given to police, Elwood gave several contradicting statements on the stand, prompting McBride to read through every line of the recorded March interview. Elwood claimed police denied him a lawyer and forced him into signing a statement, telling him a judge would take his daughter away.
In cross examination by McBride, he asked, “Is it true you’d do anything to be with your daughter Mr. Elwood?” “I wouldn’t lie sir,” responded Elwood. “You wouldn’t lie? Didn’t you just explain to this jury how the police made you sign a statement over your daughter? Are you telling me now that everything in that statement is true or did you lie?” asked McBride. “Parts are true,” said the defendant. “Does that mean that some parts are a lie?” queried the DA. “Yes,” responded Elwood after several moments of pause.
On the stand Elwood recanted much of the written statement. “So what you’re telling us is you were just the wrong guy in the wrong place with an AK-47 and a stupid friend?” said McBride.
Elwood admitted to bringing the gun into the house after he made sure it was unloaded because he heard screaming after watching Ohl break down the door. He also admitted to stealing the phones out of the house and lying to investigators at the time of his arrest. “I was scared. I didn’t want to go to jail. I wanted to see my daughter grow up,” said Elwood.
During the cross examination, McBride said, “Let me get this right sir ... You watched your buddy break into some house at 11:30 at night, then you decided to leave the scene, but then after hearing a women’s scream you decided take your machine gun and go into the house with it instead?”
“The night in question you never did ask the lady if she wanted to buy the gun while you had it in your hands, did you?” asked McBride. “What do you think?” responded Elwood. “I know you didn’t,” said McBride.
In closing, defense attorney Linden D. Summers told jurors, “No one denies a crime took place. It is a fearsome crime. The person responsible for that crime appeared in this court – Mr. Ohl.” Summers pointed out that Elwood did not tie the victim up, that the victim herself said Ohl was the one who hit her and that his client had nothing to do with her rape. “He was the wrong person, wrong place, wrong time, and clearly he should’ve done things differently, but he didn’t. But he is not the man responsible for the crimes that took place that night,” said Summers.
“What you have to remember is in concert, a person in concert is just as responsible as Mr. Ohl for the rape. Think of it like a team – in football you have a quarterback, a running back and a wide receiver. They each have their own task but they all have the same goal – a touchdown. Mr. Elwood’s goal that night was the same as Mr. Ohl’s – to commit a crime,” said McBride.
McBride used the defendant’s own testimony against him by talking about how he stood with his back to Ohl for ‘7 or 8 minutes’ while the rape took place. “It’s ridiculous. It defies logic and it defies credibility,” said McBride.
Elwood was remanded to the county jail and will be sentenced at a later date. At sentencing the victim will have the right to address the court and the defendant before the judge makes a final decision. He faces up to 25 years in state prison.
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