After nearly six months of investigation and preparation, the murder trial of a 17-year-old Somali immigrant got underway with opening statements and testimony yesterday.
Mohat Osman, of Columbus, allegedly killed a Meigs County man, Donnie Putnam, during a New Marshfield drug shootout in February.
Assistant County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said during his statement that he doesn't know for sure who shot Putnam or has the murder weapon. He said Osman committed murder, because he participated in the raid that led to Putnam's death.
The prosecution's case against Osman would be strong enough for a conviction based on the evidence and witness testimony, but, on top of that, Osman confessed to the crime in interviews with police, Blackburn said.
Under the felony murder rule, anyone convicted of an aggravated robbery that results in a death is guilty of felony murder regardless of whether this person actually killed the victim.
Osman's defense attorney, Larry Thomas, told the jury during his statement that it should not trust one of the state's key witnesses, Billy Osborne. He added that not every fatal shooting is murder, and that though the state must prove only that Putnam died in the robbery, the evidence would show them that this is not the case.
The prosecution's case is like a duck swimming on water
Thomas said. It looks real smooth until you look under the water.
Osman was not alone in the courtroom when his trial began. His family packed one side of the gallery as both sides introduced the case, which is the second this summer stemming from the February drug shootout.
Putnam's mother, Sharon Tucker, and his cousin, Patty Greenwalt, were also present for the statements, as they were for Boler's trial nearly two months earlier.
I was hoping everyone would plea bargain so (Putnam's) mother wouldn't have to go through all this again Greenwalt said, adding that she found it difficult to sit in court across from Osman's family.
I can't blame them for what (Osman) did
she said. They weren't there. They didn't do it.
Prosecutors say Osman helped Phillip Boler, 27, Abdifatah Abdi, 17, and Hamda Jama, 21, raid Billy Osborne's New Marshfield trailer in the early hours of Feb. 15 to collect $13,000 Osborne owed Boler for drugs. The assault turned violent, and someone shot Donnie Putnam, formerly of Meigs County, in the chest during the violence.
Prosecutors said during Boler's trial in June that Osman and his cousin Abdi served as muscle for the raid, adding that Boler recruited the two goons from Columbus to help collect Osborne's debt.
The state convicted Boler of aggravated robbery and felony murder, and Judge Michael Ward, who will preside over all related murder cases, sentenced him to 28 years to life in prison. Boler has appealed the conviction.
Abdi's trial will start at the end of August, and Jama's will begin in late September. Prosecutors have also charged them with aggravated robbery and felony murder.
Osman's trial will last for about two weeks and could send Osman to prison for 38 years to life if the jury finds him guilty of the aggravated robbery and felony murder charges.
Over the trial, jurors will likely hear reports from more than 30 witnesses, including police, Osborne himself and Osman's prison cellmate, who reportedly overheard the juvenile tell others he shot Putnam and hid the murder weapon behind a tree as he fled the scene.
What remains unclear is whether Thomas will call witnesses of his own and whether Osman will take the stand in his own defense.
Abdi and Boler will be called to testify against Osman tomorrow and Osborne will testify this morning, prosecutors said.
Following opening statements, prosecutors called witnesses to establish through their testimony that Osman knew his codefendants, went with them to the scene that night and carried a gun.
Among those taking the stand was Eric Fussner, who prosecutors initially charged with murder for his involvement in the shootout, but dropped their case after he gave them a letter from Boler that exonerated him.
Fussner testified that the group members forced him at gunpoint to drive them to Osborne's trailer, adding that both Osman and Abdi had guns. There, Osman and Abdi attacked Osborne on his porch, he said, but as the fight turned into a shootout, they fled in opposite directions, firing back at Osborne as they ran.
Thomas questioned Fussner's credibility during cross-examination by asking him why he did not go to police after the shooting and instead awaited his arrest, adding that Fussner did not cooperate fully until after prosecutors dropped his case.
Fussner said he did not call police because he was afraid of Boler, and that he would have if he was aware the four were already under arrest,.
Fussner admitted to using drugs in the past, naming Boler as his dealer. He also said he had been clean since his imprisonment in regional jail.
At Boler's trial, prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses, whose collected testimony has created a brutal image of the shooting.
Two cars pulled up outside Osborne's trailer about an hour past midnight on Feb. 15.
While Boler and Jama stayed in one car at the base of the driveway, Fussner drove passengers Abdi and Osman closer to the trailer. Abdi and Osman went to the front door while Boler readied a rifle at his car.
Meanwhile, Osborne, who had been expecting Boler and heard the car approach, told others in the trailer to grab guns in case the encounter turned violent. When he refused Abdi and Osman entry, at least one of the two assailants pulled a pistol and jammed it into Osborne's stomach.
Osborne wrestled the gun away and began shooting at the two, who fled toward Boler, firing at the porch as they ran. Boler fired his rifle at the trailer three times before speeding off in his car.
Putnam, having arrived just before or during the struggle, ran to the porch to help Osborne, but was hit in the chest by a stray bullet.
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Mohat Osman sits at his opening trial yesterday. (Frank Thomas | For The Post)
