Prosecutor says he’ll ask the court to overrule the motion – 

By Patricia Beech – 

Brown County Prosecutor Zac Corbin says he believes that law enforcement officials acted in accordance with proper legal procedures when they arrested and charged an Adams County man with murder in Aug. 2017.
The defense counsel for John R. Crum, who is accused of murder, has filed a motion asking Brown County Common Pleas Judge, Scott T. Gusweiler, to dismiss all charges against their client, or suppress all evidence gathered by authorities at the time of his arrest.
Crum, 84 of Peebles, was indicted on aggravated murder charges on Sept. 21, 2017. He is alleged to have shot 62-year-old Marsha Thigpen of Ripley, Ohio. His jury trial is scheduled for April 2, 2018.
Brown County Sheriff Gordon Ellis said Thigpen’s body was discovered outside her home at 5969 Ripley Day Hill Road on Aug. 9 after authorities received a report of an unresponsive woman.
Forensic evidence revealed the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head caused by a small caliber firearm.
According to court documents, while Brown County deputies were “en route or at the (crime) scene, a possible suspect was discovered, “ex-boyfriend, John Crum”.
At the request of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office located and arrested Crum at his place of business, Crum Farm Supply in Franklin Township. He was then transported to the Adams County Jail, and later was picked up by Brown County deputies and transported to the Brown County jail.
In their motion to dismiss, defense attorneys Tyler Cantrell and Gary A. Rosenhoffer, assert that neither the Brown nor the Adams County Sheriff’s Departments “had a warrant to arrest Crum and no offense had been committed in the presence of deputies of either department.”
The defense’s motion further contends that “deputies had no basis in fact for the seizure and arrest” of Crum, and that he was denied immediate access to his lawyer.
Within minutes of Crum’s arrival at the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, the motion states that Attorney Cantrell appeared and sought to counsel Crum, which he was not able to do until eight hours after his arrival. The motion reads, “Ohio law is quite clear that one who is arrested has an immediate right to visit with counsel.”
Prosecutor Corbin told The People’s Defender that he believes that law enforcement officials acted in accordance with proper legal procedures and did not violate Crum’s rights.
“On cases like this where the charges are so serious and the stakes are so high, it is not uncommon for defense attorneys to file these kinds of motions,” said Corbin. “Obviously, we oppose them, and we will be asking the court to overrule them.”
A hearing on the motion to dismiss the case, or suppress all evidence that was seized, is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 8.