Jury finds Michigan man guilty of shooting trooper

A Hancock County jury on Monday convicted Robert T. Hathorn Jr. of shooting a state trooper and committing five other felonies on Interstate 75 in Findlay last October. The 12-member jury deliberated about four hours before reaching its verdict. Hathorn, 43, of Muskegon, Michigan, faces at least 10-18 years in prison, possibly more, Hancock County Prosecutor Phillip Riegle said. Hathorn is being held at the Hancock County Justice Center. Sentencing will be done at a later date by Hancock County Common Pleas Judge Reginald Routson, who presided over the trial. The conviction of felonious assault of a peace officer, a first-degree felony, with the specification that Hathorn used a gun, carries a mandatory 10- to 18-year prison sentence. The sentences for some of the other offenses could possibly be served concurrently with the sentence for felonious assault. The jurors also found Hathorn guilty of: • Aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, in using the gun belonging to Trooper Josef Brobst in the offense against Brobst. • Two counts of having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony. Hathorn had two prior felony convictions prohibiting him from having a gun. One of the prior offenses involved assaulting a police officer, resisting or obstructing, in 2004 in Michigan. The other involved a conviction for possession of a controlled substance, in 2000 in Michigan. • Failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a fourth-degree felony, for fleeing the scene after committing the felony offense against Brobst. • Tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, for altering or concealing or removing evidence when he left the Chevrolet Suburban hidden in a field west of County Road 140 after the shooting of Brobst. "Obviously, we are happy with how things went today with (Hathorn) being found guilty on all counts and specifications. We thought that's what the evidence showed," Riegle said after the trial. "We are very thankful for the jurors' service and for their work in this. We feel that it is a just and right verdict." Closing arguments wrap up case The jury began deliberating before noon Monday after closing arguments by Riegle, Assistant County Prosecutor Colleen Limerick, and Hathorn, who was representing himself. In her closing, Limerick cited a forensic scientist's testimony last week that Hathorn was the "major contributor" of DNA found on the trigger of Brobst's gun. The same witness also testified that Hathorn was the only contributor of DNA on the bottom of Brobst's holster, Limerick said. Brobst was shot in the groin. Brobst testified last week that Hathorn pulled the trigger of Brobst's gun while it was in the holster after the two struggled and went over a guardrail along I-75. Hathorn, who outweighed Brobst, appeared on video to have, in effect, pushed Brobst backward over the guardrail and then landed on top of him. Hathorn, in his closing argument, argued that the DNA evidence was made up or planted later. He called it "magical DNA" and "imaginary DNA" in his closing argument to the jury. "They had no evidence, so they had to put that DNA on the trigger of that gun," Hathorn said. The Oct. 6, 2021, incident started with Brobst pulling Hathorn over on I-75 about a mile north of the Trenton Avenue exit for speeding as he drove southbound. When Brobst stepped alongside the black Chevrolet Suburban, he detected an odor of marijuana and asked Hathorn to step outside. Hathorn initially complied. As the two waited for a second state trooper to arrive to assist with a search of the vehicle, Hathorn sucker punched Brobst and then wrapped his arms around the trooper in a bear-hug, Brobst testified. As the two struggled, they moved into the frame of a video camera in Brobst's cruiser. They then moved out of view of the video as they went over the guardrail. Hathorn, in his closing, claimed that before he bear-hugged Brobst, the state trooper pulled his gun out of the holster and fired, hitting one of Hathorn's fingers when Hathorn raised his hands to protect himself. It was after that that Hathorn wrapped his arms around Brobst in self-defense, Hathorn argued. "I was trying to keep him close to me so he couldn't shoot me," Hathorn told jurors. But a forensic pathologist last week testified that Hathorn's claims of a finger wound before his bear hug make no sense, Limerick reminded jurors. Video taken by a camera in Brobst's cruiser shows Hathorn's arms and hands wrapped around Brobst as the two struggle before going over the guardrail. Yet Brobst's shirt from that day contained no blood on the back. "If that wound in his hand is preexistent, that wound is going to bleed profusely," Dr. James Downs, a forensic pathologist from Savannah, Georgia, testified last week. "Particularly if you take somebody, again, in a bear hug, you're squeezing the wounded area right next to the areas that would absorb the blood. So if that were the case, I would expect to find blood patterns, representing struggle, on the back or wherever that hand is on the trooper's uniform, and I just don't see that." Instead, Hathorn's finger wound occurred later after the two went over the guardrail, Downs testified. In addition, the same bullet that struck Hathorn's finger became lodged in Brobst's groin, Downs testified. It appears that while Hathorn's right finger pulled the trigger, his left hand was handling the bottom of the holster and his index finger was inadvertently in the path of the bullet, according to Downs' testimony. In fact, photos of Brobst's injury show scars on his skin that appear to have resulted from fragments of bone and skin from Hathorn's wounded finger, which became "secondary projectiles," Downs testified. In addition, a firearms expert testified that Brobst's gun could have been fired by Hathorn while it was still holstered and the two struggled. In fact, the firearms expert testified that a piece from the bottom of the holster had been blown off, Limerick argued to jurors. 'It happened like that' Hathorn told jurors he did not touch the gun, let alone fire it. He said Brobst had taken a tone with him and was antagonistic, then shot at him, causing Hathorn to fear for his life. "All I did was put him in a bear hug for my safety and for his safety," Hathorn argued to jurors. "I heard a gunshot. "That's what spurred me to action. Otherwise, what other reason, what other reason, what other motivation would I have?" Riegle, the prosecutor, in his rebuttal, told the jury he had an answer to Hathorn's question. "I'm sure you all surmised from watching the video that apparently the defendant didn't want the vehicle searched," Riegle said. "(I) can't say what was in there. I don't know. But it's clear from the video he didn't want it searched," he said. Riegle then displayed a photo of the Suburban hidden in the field west of County Road 140 after Hathorn abandoned it. Strewn about it nearby were clothing and miscellaneous items. "On Oct. 6, 2021, Josef Brobst had a job to do. He went to work like he's done the last few years ... did what he could do to keep those on the highway safe. He didn't go to work to try to nail someone or make the big score. He just went to work, all he did was watch some traffic and saw a black SUV coming pretty fast — 86 (mph), 82 (mph) — and Trooper Brobst had a choice: He could let the vehicle go. But 86 (mph): What if that vehicle hit a car down the road? What if the driver was impaired, driving too fast?" Riegle said to jurors. "Trooper Brobst made a choice to do his job and he stopped that vehicle." Then when Brobst approached on foot, he smelled the odor of marijuana. Perhaps, there could be a large quantity of marijuana, even narcotics in the car, Riegle argued. "Trooper Brobst chose to do his job and ask for a second (Highway Patrol) vehicle to come," Riegle said. At that point, Hathorn's compliance with the officer vanished, Riegle argued. "Once the defendant finds out for sure the car is being searched and another (trooper) is on the way, the defendant attacks — attacks — Trooper Brobst," Riegle said. Within seconds of Hathorn visibly holding Brobst in a bear hug on a video, the two tumble over the guardrail and out of the video's frame. Soon, Brobst can be heard — though not seen — screaming in pain. "A public servant who was doing his job, went from doing his job to fighting for his life and it happened" — Riegel snapped his fingers loudly — "like that." Wilin: 419-427-8413