Gipson pleads guilty in murder of Judy Mosler
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
A Greenfield man has pleaded guilty in the murder of Judy Mosler, and received 15 years to life in prison.
Kermit E. Gipson, 22, was scheduled to stand trial in Highland County Common Pleas Court Monday, June 14. However, at the request of the state and Gipson's attorney, Michael Kelly, a hearing was scheduled the morning of Friday, June 11, where a plea of guilty was entered.
Gipson was charged with murder, an unclassified felony with a gun specification, and tampering with evidence following the Jan. 20 shooting death of Mosler.
According to Greenfield Police Chief Tim Hester, the department received a call at 1:56 p.m. Jan. 20 of a reported shooting at 631 South Street. Upon arrival, officers found a female victim, Judy Mosler, 24, of that residence, had sustained a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. Paint Creek EMS transported Mosler to Adena-Greenfield Area Medical Center. Mosler was later transferred to Miami Valley Hospital with critical injuries. Mosler later died at Miami Valley. Officers recovered a handgun believed to be used in the shooting, Hester said.
As part of Friday's plea agreement, the state, represented by Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey, the firearm specification and the tampering with evidence charge, were dismissed.
Coss questioned Gipson if he understood that he has a right to a trial by jury, or a bench trial in front of a judge, and by pleading guilty he was waiving those rights. Gipson responded that he understood. Coss further questioned Gipson on whether or not he had discussed the possible outcomes of a trial, the consequences of pleading guilty and that the mandatory sentence to the proposed plea was life in prison. Gipson responded, "Yes, sir," to each of the questions.
"Do you understand that by pleading guilty ... and receiving a sentence of 15 to life, you may never get out of prison for the rest of your life?" Coss asked Gipson.
"Yes, sir," Gipson said.
It was noted during the proceedings that Gipson only had an 11th grade education.
According to a representative from the Highland County victim/witness program, Mosler's family members were not in court, however they had been contacted prior to the heaing.
By entering this plea, Coss asked Gipson, "you are admitting you did purposefully cause the death of Judy Mosler."
"Yes," Gipsons said.
"How to you plea?" Coss asked. "Guilty," Gipson said.
No pretrial investigation was requested and sentencing proceeded following the court's acceptance of the guilty plea.
Kelly asked Coss that, though there was no leeway in the prison sentence, Coss did have discretion in regard to the fine, and he asked that Coss take into consideration Gipson had been found indigent.
The court could have imposed a fine up to $50,000.
Coss said he did not intend to impose a fine.
Gipson was then sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, with a jail time credit of 141 days. He will be transported to the Corrections Reception Center in Orient to begin serving the sentence. Coss had noted during the proceedings that because this could be a life sentence, Gipson is not eligible for judicial release and that he could only be released by an action of a parole board.
A Greenfield man has pleaded guilty in the murder of Judy Mosler, and received 15 years to life in prison.
Kermit E. Gipson, 22, was scheduled to stand trial in Highland County Common Pleas Court Monday, June 14. However, at the request of the state and Gipson's attorney, Michael Kelly, a hearing was scheduled the morning of Friday, June 11, where a plea of guilty was entered.
Gipson was charged with murder, an unclassified felony with a gun specification, and tampering with evidence following the Jan. 20 shooting death of Mosler.
According to Greenfield Police Chief Tim Hester, the department received a call at 1:56 p.m. Jan. 20 of a reported shooting at 631 South Street. Upon arrival, officers found a female victim, Judy Mosler, 24, of that residence, had sustained a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. Paint Creek EMS transported Mosler to Adena-Greenfield Area Medical Center. Mosler was later transferred to Miami Valley Hospital with critical injuries. Mosler later died at Miami Valley. Officers recovered a handgun believed to be used in the shooting, Hester said.
As part of Friday's plea agreement, the state, represented by Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey, the firearm specification and the tampering with evidence charge, were dismissed.
Coss questioned Gipson if he understood that he has a right to a trial by jury, or a bench trial in front of a judge, and by pleading guilty he was waiving those rights. Gipson responded that he understood. Coss further questioned Gipson on whether or not he had discussed the possible outcomes of a trial, the consequences of pleading guilty and that the mandatory sentence to the proposed plea was life in prison. Gipson responded, "Yes, sir," to each of the questions.
"Do you understand that by pleading guilty ... and receiving a sentence of 15 to life, you may never get out of prison for the rest of your life?" Coss asked Gipson.
"Yes, sir," Gipson said.
It was noted during the proceedings that Gipson only had an 11th-grade education.
By entering this plea, Coss asked Gipson, "You are admitting you did purposefully cause the death of Judy Mosler?"
"Yes," Gipson said.
"How do you plea?" Coss asked. "Guilty," Gipson said.
No pretrial investigation was requested and sentencing proceeded following the court's acceptance of the guilty plea.
Kelly said though there was no leeway in the prison sentence, Coss did have discretion in regard to the fine. Kelly asked that Coss take into consideration Gipson had been found indigent.
The court could have imposed a fine up to $50,000.
Coss said he did not intend to impose a fine.
Gipson was then sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, with a jail time credit of 141 days. He will be transported to the Corrections Reception Center in Orient to begin serving the sentence. Coss had noted during the proceedings that because this could be a life sentence, Gipson is not eligible for judicial release and that he could only be released by an action of a parole board.
[[In-content Ad]]Following the proceedings, Grandey told The Highland County Press that "We had talked about a plea off and on ... and when they came back today and said they would plea to murder if we dropped the firearm specification, we went ahead with it."
Grandey said that with a sentence of 15 years to life, "Technically, when he comes up in front of the parole board, they won't have an inkling to let him out, under today's guidelines, until he has served 20 years. But I don't think that's going to happen even then. Normally they don't let you out the first time."
Gipson will be eligible for parole in 2025.
Following the hearing, Hester told The Highland County Press, "I spoke with Mr. Grandey this morning and am very satisfied with the outcome of the case. I think the prosecutor's office did an excellent job in the handling of the case. I would also like to commend Greg Schottelkotte (of the GPD) who did the initial investigation and interviews of witnesses and other aspects of the case, and he did a really good job. He recently retired and was coming back for the trial."
Mosler's family was contacted by the prosecutor's office Friday morning, and told that the state would be offering a plea agreement. Ashlea Karbowiak, Mosler's sister, said she felt that justice had been served with the guilty plea and sentence, although nothing can bring her sister back.
"Nothing will be good enough for my sister's life," Karbowiak said. "The death penalty would have been great. But we are glad that he actually admitted to it instead of saying it was an accident."