Convicted murderer David Bell showed no emotion as he sat through three
weeks of testimony about what a brutal killer he was for shooting one
sleeping man in the head and wounding another.
That changed -- barely -- Tuesday when Bell was sentenced to life in
prison without parole plus 45 years, escaping the death penalty because
of one juror. Bell only showed emotion when Assistant Hamilton County
Prosecutor Seth Tieger gave his opinion of Bell.
"David Bell," Tieger said, "is probably the biggest coward that we've
ever seen in Hamilton County" -- Bell scowled at Tieger -- "because his
only victims are sleeping people that can't fight back.
"He's not a danger to the community. The only people he's a danger to
are people that are asleep in their bed that have no idea what's
coming."
In an April 23, 2011, incident, Bell shot the sleeping Charles Martin
and shot at but missed another man who heard the first shot and rolled
out of bed when Bell pointed the gun at him in an East Price Hill home.
Bell, 25, sent Annisha Smith into the home earlier on a fake date with
one of its occupants. Once inside, Smith sent Bell text messages about
money and other items in the house. She also noted two other men were
there. Bell texted back that he was going to kill those men.
In killing Martin, Bell used a gun stolen months earlier in Butler
County from a man with whom Smith had also set up a fake "date."
Jurors, who deliberated for two days over a sentence recommendation for
Bell, told defense attorneys Will Welsh and Scott Rubenstein that the
death penalty wasn't what took them so long to decide. It was whether
Bell should serve 30 years to life in prison or life without parole.
But that isn't what jurors told prosecutors.
They said a lone holdout -- a female juror who cried when Bell was
convicted of capital murder and again when jurors announced they were
deadlocked -- saved Bell's life. Tieger said the vote was 11-1 for
death; jurors couldn't persuade her to change her mind.
That was little solace to Martin's family, who addressed Bell moments
before his sentence.
"David Bell, (for) what you did you can never be forgiven by our
family," Sandra Craddock, Martin's mother, told him Tuesday. "I hope
you get everything you deserve." She hesitated, blurted out "scumbag"
and left the podium.
Marian Smith, Martin's sister, wasn't as polite.
During the trial, she said, Bell turned to her and, with a taunting
smile, said he'd be getting a new trial soon.
She called Bell "a joke, a clown with all your weird piercings, a
wanna-be gangster, a wanna-be tough guy, a wanna-be that wants to fit
in so badly but will always be a misfit.
"You killed my brother while he was sleeping and that made you look
like the world's biggest punk."
Bell's accomplice, Annisha Smith, testified against Bell. Prosecutors
gave her a plea deal for her testimony. She will go to prison after a
June 2 court date.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/courts/2014/05/27/david-bell-death
-penalty/9623733/