Former Fort Scott resident to stand trial for murder in Crawford County

A Crawford County judge has decided to allow prosecutors from the Kansas Attorney General's Office to use Albert E. Richmond's previous drug-related involvement in the Pittsburg area in his upcoming murder trial.

Eleventh District Court Judge Donald Noland on Monday accepted Richmond's prior criminal drug record to be brought up at the hearing, but he denied the state's motion to allow into evidence Richmond's alleged threatening remarks directed at a Fort Scott police detective in 2004.

Also, Noland refused to allow Richmond's 1995 murder conviction in Kansas City, Mo., to be used against him.

Assistant Attorney General Vic Braden, the lead prosecutor in the case, said he plans to use statements as evidence from Richmond's drug-related conviction in Fort Scott in 2004. The statements and evidence, Braden said, have to do with Richmond's extensive drug involvement in Pittsburg.

"There's some statements made that I'll bring in, so there's a little bit of flavor from Fort Scott that will come in," Braden said. "What that is, I haven't decided yet."

Three years ago, Fort Scott police officers and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers arrested Richmond at a house on Osbun Street in Fort Scott for possessing cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was charged and pleaded guilty to the cocaine charge. A judge sentenced him last December to 25 months in prison that will be served once his current murder case is completed.

Court documents indicate that, during the arrest, Richmond told FSPD Officer Jay Stone that he could shoot FSPD Det. David Hughes "in the head" if he wanted to, according to Braden. Noland, Braden said, declined to enter the statement into trial, citing the reason that it's too prejudicial. Stone and Hughes are no longer with the Fort Scott Police Department.

The Crawford County Attorney's Office filed first-degree murder charges against Richmond, 30, Pittsburg, for his involvement in the shooting death of Tyrone L. Owens on Oct. 21 in Pittsburg. Two other Pittsburg men, Ramone Hester and Malcolm Jackson, were also charged with the murder of Owens. They are working out plea bargains. Richmond's trial begins Sept. 10 at the Crawford County Courthouse in Girard.

The state, in a motion, laid out four incidents where Richmond either admitted or was caught selling crack cocaine in the Pittsburg area. His most recent arrest was on Sept. 25, when Pittburg Police officers found crack cocaine on Richmond.

Prosecutors intend to establish that Richmond was an experienced drug dealer in Pittsburg and that he knew the amount of money associated with drugs. According to court documents, the knowledge "formed the basis" for Richmond to rob Owens, who was another drug dealer.

Had Nolan rejected the state's request to use Richmond's past drug-related activities, prosecutors would've been prevented in their "ability to establish motive for the robbery and subsequent premeditated killing," according to court records.

"The issue of the defendant's knowledge of drug dealing is ingrained into the fiber of the state's case," according to the records.

Noland also denied prosecutors from using information and statements as evidence from Richmond's 1995 conviction for voluntary manslaughter and second-degree murder. According to testimony included in Richmond's court records, he shot Johnny Stewart at close range. Testimony indicated that his handgun jammed before he could fire off more rounds. Richmond and his accomplice, Elliot Dunn, planned to killed Stewart to send a message to Larry Harbin, a major crack cocaine dealer from whom Richmond and Dunn were buying drugs, documents show.

According to the state, Richmond called Harbin to purchase crack cocaine by setting up a time and place to make the deal. Records indicate that he conspired with Dunn to rob and shoot Harbin, which he did from behind and then grabbed drugs and money from the victim.

Court records show that Richmond's lawyer, Michael Gayoso, said there is no similarity between the 1995 conviction and the current murder charge. Gayoso wrote that at Richmond's preliminary hearing, a witness testified that Hester, Richmond's co-defendant, wanted to purchase marijuana from Owens and that Hester was the individual who called Owens at a convenience store to buy the drug. A defense motion recorded in court records said that there was never a conversation between Richmond and the other co-defendants about what was going to happen.

"...there was never any plan to rob anyone," the defense motion stated. "...There was never any plan to shoot anyone."

In order for the previous conviction to be used, the crimes had to be "strikingly similar" to one another, Braden said. Noland didn't see that level of similarity, he said.

However, Noland may allow Braden to bring it up in rebuttal to the defense's claims. He said it all depends on the circumstances as the trial proceeds.

"The judge has made his ruling and we'll abide by the ruling," he said.