CINCINNATI — An Ohio man was found guilty Thursday in the shooting death of a man who authorities say identified his assailant by blinking his eyes while paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator.
After two days of deliberations, a Hamilton County Common Pleas jury convicted Ricardo Woods, 35, of fatally shooting David Chandler, and of felonious assault. He faces up to life in prison at sentencing June 20.
Police interviewed the 35-year-old Chandler while he was hooked up to a ventilator, paralyzed after being shot in the head and neck Oct. 28, 2010, as he sat in a car in Cincinnati. He was able to communicate only with his eyes and died about two weeks later.
Prosecutors showed jurors a videotaped police interview in which Chandler blinked his eyes hard three times for "yes" when police asked him if a photo of Woods was the photo of his shooter. He again blinked three times when they asked him if he was sure. The defense had tried to block the video, saying Chandler's blinks were inconsistent and unreliable.
A jailhouse informant testified that Woods told him he shot at Chandler because he caught him buying drugs from someone else while still owing Woods money for drugs.