Dad's murder conviction upheld; killed pregnant girlfriend (Canton, Ohio)

The murder conviction of dad BOBBY CUTTS JR. has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Cutts was convicted in 2008 of killing his girlfriend, who was 9 months pregnant.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/18/ex-officers-murder-conviction-upheld.html?sid=101

Ex-officer's murder conviction upheld
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 2:51 AM
By Jack Torry

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Former Canton Police Officer Bobby Cutts Jr. murdered a woman and her unborn child in 2007.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday let stand the 2008 conviction of former Canton Police Officer Bobby Cutts Jr. for the murder of a woman who was nine months pregnant.

The justices, without comment, rejected an appeal by Cutts, who is serving life in prison for the 2007 killing of Jessie Marie Davis, 26, and the aggravated murder of her unborn daughter, Chloe.

"We're happy that this direct appeal process has concluded," said Ronald Mark Caldwell, assistant prosecutor for the Stark County prosecutor's office.

Cutts' lawyers argued that the publicity in the case was so intense that the trial should have been shifted to another city.

The case attracted national attention because an extensive eight-day search took place after Davis was reported missing.

In addition, it was one of the first times that prosecutors indicted someone for the murder of both a woman and her fetus.

Cutts and Davis were romantically involved, and he was the father of her child. During his trial, he insisted the killing was an accident after a struggle between the two.

He then dumped her body in an open field.