Judge rules murder charges aren't 'double jeopardy' in 2008 Carlisle park attack

More than 17 years after Shawn Stevens was assaulted and paralyzed by a stranger in a Lorain County Metro Park, a Lorain County judge has ruled it isn't "double jeopardy" to charge him with murder in her 2019 death. Common Pleas Judge Melissa Kobasher ruled that charging Matthew Plas, 42, with murder in the death of Stevens, 55, of Carlisle Township isn't double jeopardy. Double jeopardy is the rule that says a person can't be tried twice for the same crime. "Plas claims that his plea and sentence ... prevents the state from prosecuting him again in this case on double jeopardy grounds," she wrote, ruling that Plas hadn't negotiated a plea with the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office that said so. "The record does not show any competent, credible evidence of a negotiated plea agreement in this case. This court can find no evidence of a promise or agreement that can be said to be a part of any inducement or consideration of Plas to enter a plea of guilty," Kobasher wrote. "... After careful consideration, the defendant's motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds is denied." Already serving 33 years in prison for attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, attempted rape, tampering with evidence, having weapons under disability, gross sexual imposition, carrying a concealed weapon and multiple specifications, Plas has pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated murder and five counts of murder in Stevens' death. Each aggravated murder charge or murder charge alleges a different elements or pattern of facts. A status hearing in the murder case is scheduled Monday in Kobasher's court, according to her ruling. Defense attorney Anthony Rich on Tuesday said he and his client respected the court's ruling and that it preserved Plas' rights for a possible appeal, but declined further comment. Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo, who is arguing the case alongside one of his assistants, Matt Kern, said he was waiting to see what happens at the coming status hearing: Whether the defense would appeal or fight Kobasher's ruling or whether the judge would set a trial date. The Prosecutor's Office charged Plas with murder in February 2024, more than four years after she died and nearly 16 years after Plas shot, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and robbed her in the Carlisle Reservation on May 6, 2008. There is no statute of limitations on murder, meaning charges can be filed no matter how much time has passed after the alleged crime. With his former client's permission, attorney Kenneth Lieux testified at a hearing in May that the agreement not to charge Plas with murder was in the plea documents he and Plas signed in 2009. Cillo argued his office never agreed not to charge Plas with murder if Stevens eventually died from her injuries. Lieux also argued Plas' due process rights under the Sixth Amendment, such as the right to a speedy trial, were violated. Kobasher has yet to rule on that issue, but said in her ruling that she would make a decision on that matter in a separate order. According to court records and Chronicle-Telegram archives, Plas shot Stevens in the back while she hiked and looked for mushrooms in the Carlisle Reservation. He hit her with a tree branch, sexually assaulted her, tried to rob her and put what he thought was her dead body in the trunk of his car. Still alive, Stevens yelled for help and caught the attention of bystanders who called police. Plas led officers on a car chase, dumped Stevens behind a business on Oberlin-Elyria Road and was arrested quickly after. Having already served approximately 17 years in prison, Plas' earliest possible release date from his current 33-year sentence is in 2041, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Stevens told The Chronicle-Telegram in 2009 that her attacker's prison sentence wasn't long enough. She died Dec. 28, 2019, as a result of multiple conditions related to her spinal cord injury and paralysis. The Lorain County Coroner's Office ruled her death a homicide in 2020. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.