Lima resident Ralph Dewitt told jurors on Tuesday about the events of May 2, when he claimed he was attacked and struck with a hammer wielded by Joshua Stevens.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — The alleged victim of a hammer attack that left him in need of medical attention took the witness stand Tuesday as testimony began in the trial of Lima resident Joshua Stevens.
Stevens, 32, is charged with two counts of felonious assault, second-degree felonies that allege he knowingly caused physical harm to Lima resident Ralph Dewitt.
Dewitt was the first witness called to the stand by prosecutors following a day dominated by jury selection in the courtroom of Judge Jeffrey Reed.
Dewitt testified that on May 2 of this year he and his brother were helping a man start his car when “some guy crawled out from under the car and hit the throttle.” Dewitt said the person, whom he had never before seen, had a “three-pointed crown tattoo” above his eye.
Stevens has a tattoo that matches that description.
Dewitt said his brother exchanged words with Stevens over the incident “and then I stepped in when he threatened my brother.” The two men were separated and Stevens left the area on foot, Dewitt told jurors.
He testified that later that evening he was on the sidewalk outside his East Second Street home when “I heard some noise coming from the neighbor’s porch and saw someone moving around. Then I got hit with a hammer.”
Dewitt said he did not initially see who had struck him. He chased his attacker into an alley and the two men fought until the man sporting a three-pointed crown tattoo on his forehead produced a knife, Dewitt testified.
“I told him to drop the knife, then I hit him some more.”
Dewitt was taken to Memorial Health System for treatment of his wounds, and jurors viewed photographs of the man’s bloody head and swollen hand, each of which had been struck by the hammer.
“This is not a complex case,” Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Everhart told jurors. “You will hear from Ralph and other witnesses as well as a Lima police officer and the evidence will prove that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Megan McLean and Steve Chamberlain from the Allen County Public Defenders Office deferred their opening statement.
Before testimony began and outside the jury’s presence, Everhart told the judge that two of the state’s potential witnesses had tested positive for Covid-19 and would be unable to appear.
Everhart also alerted the judge to a phone call made by Stevens last night which had just been brought to his attention. In that call the defendant allegedly made reference to a possible self-defense claim.
Chamberlain told the judge he has “never discussed a self-defense claim with my client.”
