By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A jury of seven women and five men found Kenan Neal guilty on all five felony charges Wednesday afternoon.
Neal, 31, was the subject of a two-day jury trial in Crawford County Common Pleas Court this week. Day one of the trial consisted of testimony for the prosecution from three witnesses: the detective who led an ongoing drug investigation on Neal, the Crestline police officer who responded to the home invasion incident prior to the search warrant that led to Neal’s arrest, and a case worker who interviewed Neal after his arrest on allegations of neglect.
Wednesday served as day two of the trial and the defense’s turn to call witnesses to the stand. Leon Hewitt, Neal’s attorney, called his client to the stand as his one and only witness. Hewitt’s argument hinged on allegations of police tactics and abuse.
Upon being questioned, Neal stated that two men with guns entered his residence at 207 N. Henry St. on Nov. 8. He was pistol whipped while his wife was tied up. Though he received a swollen jaw from that night, Neal said he did not receive treatment for it. Neal was able to escape one of the assailants and called 911. Crestline police responded and apprehended one of the men involved in the home invasion.
Police returned to Neal’s residence on Nov. 10 with a search warrant, which was obtained after the culprit in the home invasion revealed he had gone there for money and drugs. A gun found in the man’s possession, which he stated he had taken from Neal’s residence, was linked back to a firearm stolen from the Bucyrus area.
When Neal opened the door to the police, he explained, he thought they were there for a follow-up on the home invasion. He claimed the officers came in unannounced and accused him of trafficking in drugs.
“Trafficking in drugs. What do you mean?” Neal said he remembered asking that night. “I never saw a drug in my life.”
He also questioned why the police came to his home on that specific night if they had him for drug trafficking before that moment.
Neal claimed the approximately $10,000 found by police when they executed the search warrant was money he received from a worker’s compensation claim and was saving to go on vacation. He also did not recall how Percocet or Methadone came to be in his house.
Former Crestline detective Jeremy Moon and patrolman Scott Eshelman both testified Tuesday that they found a large sum of money and 37.75 grams of crack cocaine in a safe discovered in a locked closet in a bedroom. Prescription pills and a Ruger 9mm handgun were found in a dresser drawer in that same room while another rock of crack cocaine was discovered along with a razor, plastic baggies, and a digital scale in a laundry room closet.
“They brought it to my attention after they went upstairs,” Neal said in reference to the significant amount of crack cocaine found in the safe. He also stated Patrolman Eshelman taunted him during the search while Detective Moon insinuated “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back” that night.
Neal said the case worker from Crawford County Children Services accused him of selling drugs during an interview held at the county jail in December. The case worker, Erica Foster, testified Tuesday that she conducted a mandatory interview with Neal after allegations were made of neglect due to substances found in the home.
Assistant county prosecutor Ryan Hoovler barraged Neal with questions during the cross examination. He questioned Neal on the inconsistencies between the statements made by both police officers and Neal’s own recollections.
Neal said the key to the locked closet had been laying on the bed in the room the police searched and alleged that testimony from Moon and Eshelman “could be” a lie. He admitted the safe was his but balked at accepting ownership of the drugs found.
Neal claimed it was an empty bedroom but Hoovler was tenacious in ferreting out the details. Neal said the clothes were not his, claimed his six-year-old daughter had items in there, then admitted he had an assortment of clothes in the room. The cops testified to finding large men’s clothes in the bedroom.
Hoovler grilled Neal on the surveillance equipment cops found in the bedroom, in which views of the back door and alley were found up on a TV during the search. Neal didn’t remember if one of his cameras faced the front door and Hoovler reminded him of the drug trafficking investigation Moon had been conducting prior to the search.
“Are we here on trafficking and selling cocaine?” Neal challenged.
Hoovler continued to hammer question after question on Neal while Neal continuously responded with “I don’t recall,” especially when it came to an hour-long interview he voluntarily held with Moon and Eshelman at the Crestline Police Department. Neal was visibly exasperated with Hoovler’s line of questioning, at one point rolling his eyes when the prosecutor once again brought up the police interview.
Hoovler pointed out that Neal’s theory of the case was the Crestline Police Department brought in the drugs that were found.
“I’m not saying that,” Neal argued.
“You just don’t recall how the cocaine got there,” Hoovler responded.
The State had the opportunity for a rebuttal after Hewitt declined a redirect. Hoovler called Detective Moon back to the stand for potential questions and played roughly 24 minutes of the hour-long interview Moon held with Neal. During the recording, jurors could hear Neal revealing players in the drug trade, though he testified that he did not recall doing so.
In closing statements, assistant prosecutor Rob Kidd said the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Neal committed the five charges laid against him.
As Kidd stood before the jury he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and held them in the palm of his hand. He hypothesized what it would mean if he placed his keys in a safe behind a locked door.
“Does that mean I’m no longer in possession of my keys?” Kidd asked. “Of course not. I’m still in dominion and control of my keys.”
Kidd reiterated the fact that the weight and identity of the crack and pills found at the home was determined by the Mansfield crime lab. He also pointed out Neal admitted to case worker Foster that the cocaine found in the home belonged to him and that he admitted to purchasing prescription drugs for personal use during the police interview. As for the stolen Ruger, Kidd argued that Neal had to have known the purchase was not legal when he went to a random apartment to buy a random firearm.
“When you begin to stack that evidence up together, it is very clear what the decision is today,” Kidd said in closing.
Hewitt reminded jurors that Neal was the victim of a robbery. The attorney attempted to cast doubt on Moon’s actions around the search warrant and pointed to the 18 incidences that occurred prior to Moon finally going forward with a search warrant on Nov. 10.
“I would think that might be a little strange to let the alleged act go on,” Hewitt remarked.
He also noted that having surveillance cameras was not a crime nor did Neal make up any kind of confession to possessing drugs or firearms.
“It is my client’s belief that the State has not met the burden of proof,” Hewitt closed.
“Sometimes in this business you catch the drug traffickers possessing a large amount of drugs,” Hoovler said in rebuttal. He held that is what happened with Neal. “The evidence paints the picture of exactly what the case is. It’s a search warrant case.
“Kenan Neal was a drug trafficker but on Nov. 10, 2014 he was caught possessing drugs,” Hoovler said.
The jury was sent out of the courtroom for deliberation at 2 p.m. and returned not even a half hour later with findings of guilty to all five counts. Judge Sean Leuthold felt a pre-sentence investigation would provide little to no new information to the case and chose to render a sentence that afternoon.
Hoovler recommended a total of 12 and one half years in prison, including the maximum 10-year sentence on the first-degree felony drug possession charge. Hoovler added that Neal never showed remorse for his crimes and was not truthful.
“Although Mr. Neal does not have a felony record, the facts and circumstances . . . sheds light that this is a serious crime,” Hoovler argued. “He was a victim only because he was selling drugs.”
“I think it’s the wrong verdict,” Neal told Leuthold. “This is a real disappointment. I hope you take leniency on me, sir.”
Leuthold took a moment to comment on Neal and his character. He had performed Neal’s wedding ceremony and said Neal was probably a loving husband, a good father, and was obviously an intelligent man. However, Leuthold found the amount of drugs disturbing as well as the possibility that a child was in the household.
“This was a drug robbery,” Leuthold said. “They just didn’t pick out a random house.”
Leuthold said Neal showed no remorse, had been less than truthful, and was contradicted many times by the played recording from the police interview.
“Here in Crawford County we don’t tolerate drug dealing, we don’t tolerate people who have immersed themselves in drug culture,” Leuthold said, adding that he would take the steps necessary to protect the public.
Leuthold sentenced Neal eight years in prison for first-degree felony possession of cocaine, 12 months for fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property, and six months for fifth-degree felony possession of Methadone. Those sentences will be served consecutively. The two fifth-degree felony possession of Oxycodone charges each came with six-month prison sentences. Those sentences will be served concurrently to each other for a total of six months but consecutively to the other three charges. Neal will spend a total of 10 years in prison though he will be credited for time served in the county jail.
Leuthold appointed local attorney Adam Stone to handle any appeals for Neal.
“I feel it was very appropriate,” commented county prosecutor Matt Crall. “One of the ways we can stop the drug problem is by showing people who are willing to deal or possess drugs in this quantity that it’s not acceptable here in our community. I think this sentence sends a very clear message to people wanting to do that.”