Testimony continues in abduction, assault trial

LIMA — The trial of a man accused of holding his girlfriend hostage and assaulting her with a gun was interrupted by the defendant requesting dismissal of his public defenders Wednesday morning.

Bryant Rose, 37, is charged with second-degree felonious assault with a firearm specification, third-degree felony abduction with a firearm specification and third-degree felony having weapons under disability.

Rose told Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed that his public defenders Steve Chamberlain and Megan McLean did not tell him what the gun specifications on his charges would mean for him or how much prison time he could receive.

Chamberlain said that Rose had been overall uncooperative and had several attorneys and public defenders throughout his case. He said Rose didn’t like how some of the evidence presented was making him look, so he brought up the issue in court.

The request was denied by Reed, who said that multiple plea deal offers had been placed on the record, but Rose had turned them down.

Rose’s then-girlfriend, Janiece Spencer, testified that the two lived together at the home on East Fourth Street, and they often threw parties where they sold raffle tickets for prizes. She said on the night of Jan. 28, 2021, they threw a party in their basement in which people started arriving around 11 p.m.

Spencer, 25, said she drank several shots of tequila at the party, but was able to walk and stand up. She said in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2021, she turned off the music because she was tired and hungry, and she told Rose she wanted to drive to Waffle House.

Spencer said the two argued about her turning off the music and that she was too drunk to drive. She said Rose followed her when she went upstairs to the bathroom, where they were talking and it “got a little hostile.”

Spencer said at some point, Rose left and returned in under a minute with a gun, which he used to hit her on the side of her head, and he closed the door. She said he also bit her under her right eye.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Everhart showed the jury photos of Spencer’s injuries. In one photo, the area underneath Spencer’s right eye appeared swollen and had scabbed marks. Another showed the side of her head, which appeared to be bleeding.

Spencer said Rose would not let her leave the bathroom. She said she didn’t leave when he left because she knew he’d grab her and it was not the first time he had assaulted her.

Spencer said Rose eventually let her out of the bathroom, telling her to tell the police the situation was a misunderstanding, and she went outside, to the police.

Spencer said she later sent a letter to Rose’s attorney in which she said she had lied. She said Rose told her to write the letter and to lie to an investigator with the public defender’s office with whom she later spoke.

Spencer said she agreed to both because the two were back together and she loved him. She said the two had an on-and-off relationship until the beginning of August 2022.

Lyric Simpson, who attended the party, testified that she went upstairs to the bathroom because she needed to use it. She said she banged on the door and Rose opened it to tell her to leave. She said she saw Spencer lying on the floor near the bathtub and Rose pointed the gun at her.

Simpson said she ran out of the house and let Spencer’s sister in the house, then called 911.

Shaniqua Walker, Spencer’s sister, testified that when she tried to go into the house, she heard Spencer asking Rose why he was hitting her. She said Simpson let her in and the group tried to get Spencer out of the bathroom.

Walker said when she saw the gun she ran outside and called the police.

Ebony Walker, Spencer’s mother, said Shaniqua Walker called her that morning and told her that Rose had Spencer trapped in the bathroom with a gun. The woman called the police and, according to the 911 recording, she asked why police weren’t there.

The dispatcher said there were five officers there, so Walker said she called Spencer, who asked her mother to help her. She said Rose said it was all a misunderstanding.

Walker said she told Rose that if it was a misunderstanding then he should let Spencer go.

“I’m saying whatever I gotta say to get my baby out of that bathroom,” Walker said.

Walker said she stayed on the phone with Spencer until she left the house to go to the police. She said Spencer video-called her from the hospital and tried to calm her mother down.

In body camera footage from Lima Police Lieutenant Zach Leland, who was a sergeant at the time of the incident, he spoke with D’Neisha Smith, who attended the party. She said that Spencer’s hand mistakenly hit another man’s butt, which angered Rose. She said Rose then took her upstairs and held her hostage in the bathroom.

Leland said he then saw Spencer exit the home and he put himself between her and the home to get her to safety. He said he put her in Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Brandon Schreiber’s car and Schreiber took her to the hospital.

Leland said Rose eventually came out of the house and was arrested. He said he took Rose to the police department and Rose said that the officers would look foolish because they weren’t going to find anything.

Leland said he found Rose’s choice of words odd, as if he knew they couldn’t find anything but not because there was nothing to find.

Leland said later during the search of the house, no gun was found.

In dash camera footage from Schreiber’s patrol cruiser, Spencer can be heard on the phone with her mother and sister. She repeatedly called Rose a “narcissist” and said that she was “so scared” during the incident.

Schreiber said he took Spencer to the hospital and Lima Police Detective Steve Stechschulte met her there.

Stechschulte testified that he spoke with Spencer at the hospital. He said Spencer’s emotions were up and down, with her being more upset while recounting the incident.

In a recording of the conversation that was played for the jury, Spencer told Stechschulte that Rose was so upset because she paused the music to tell him she was hungry and the man became upset that she was acting like she ran the place when “all you run is your mouth.”

In the recording, Spencer said Rose bit her to quiet her down because the police were outside. She said she was scared that Rose was going to “go berserk.”

During Stechschulte’s conversation with Spencer, Rose called Spencer via Facebook, but he hung up after Stechschulte told Rose it was him and asked if he was doing alright.

Stechschulte said he believes that in addition to the injuries on her head and face, she had some small injuries on her hand and a cut next to her ear.

Testimony will continue Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.