Will appeal Boss guilty verdict

Twelve Plymouth County jurors declared an end to their deliberation with 11 "guilty" and one "guilty for sure" declaration in the first degree murder trial of Donald L. Boss, Jr., just two hours and 10 minutes after leaving the courtroom to decide Dec. 11.

Defense attorneys indicated they will appeal the verdict after sentencing, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16.

Boss was charged the morning of Jan. 3, 2002, in the death of his adopted son, Timothy. At that time, it was believed the boy had died during the summer of 2000. Date of death was later established as Feb. 23, 2000.

Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond, who sat as "second chair" to Iowa Assistant Attorney General Charles Thoman, said no decision has been reached on whether or not to charge Lisa Boss, the boy's adoptive mother, who has been held under bond as a material witness in the matter. She was not called and did not testify.

During the trial, testimony was presented that she, too, may have been involved in the beating and death of Timothy Boss.

According to Donald Boss, Lisa Boss was told to call 9-1-1 but refused to do so. According to other testimony, Lisa Boss wanted to call 9-1-1 but Donald Boss would not allow it.

Testimony from adopted son's, Claxton (now known as Will) and Roman (formerly known as Rudy) indicated Lisa Boss was present and may have participated in the beating.

Wednesday's events in court began with Defense Attorney Mike Williams renewing his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal. Williams said the court should take into account all of the evidence, not just that most favorable to the state.

As before, the motion was overruled.

Judge James Scott read 34 instructions to the jury-- ranging from definitions of evidence and reasonable doubt to identifying the elements of the first degree murder and lesser included charges-- before attorneys presented their summations and closing arguments.

Thoman made the closing arguments for the state, giving most of his attention to instruction No. 21 which listed what the state must prove for the jury to find Donald Boss guilty of first degree murder.

Those elements included that Donald Boss, acting alone or with Lisa Boss, tied up and beat Timothy Boss and that as a result Timothy Boss died. "Malice aforethought" and "circumstances showing an extreme indifference to life" were among other elements of the crime, Thoman said. He stressed that the state did not have to prove premeditation or intent to kill.

Thoman told the jury in his arguments that the state had proven each of the elements and went on to describe the events that led to Timothy Boss death as presented by the prosecution.

While the boys' testimony did not match exactly, said Thoman, both saw the orange chair and both saw Tim tied to it.

Again and again, the prosecutor came back to "I won't say I didn't beat his ass," a statement Chief Deputy Craig Bartolozzi attributed to Donald Boss as the two men drove from the Remsen home to the Plymouth County Jail on the night Boss was first questioned.

The defendant's admission that he hit Timothy with a belt Thoman described as minimizing the act.

Expert testimony, said the attorney, proved trauma and established the cause of death as homicidal violence. Timothy Boss, he said, had no history of disease and no chronic illness. Even the defense expert could only show the presence of drugs, not that drugs were a cause of death, according to Thoman.

The prosecutor maintained that the burial of the body under the family's basement was for the same reason that no one called 9-1-1, so that no authorities would see the marks on his body.

"Little kids don't just drop dead," Thoman told the jury.

Thoman said that while no one could know what was in the defendant's mind: "You can conclude, you can see, you can feel, you can see malice aforethought by the very acts of the Defendant in this case."

Another element, as described by Thoman was that the defendant did an act intended to cause pain or injury. "Everything we've talked about proves this element," he said.

It was clear, he said, that unreasonable force was used, enough to cause Timothy Boss's death and that the defendant was committing an assault or child endangerment. "Actually, he was committing both," said Thoman.

The prosecutor said Donald Boss continued to show indifference for human life by not calling 9-1-1 when there was an opportunity to do, by going for a smoke, by taking the body downstairs and sitting with it in a room with the radio turned low to convince other family members Timothy was still alive and he had taken the boy to live elsewhere.

Donald Boss's statements were described by Thoman as "an elaborate tale of half-truths and lies."

Attorney Williams asserted that the prosecution had not proven the elements of the case beyond a reasonable doubt and urged the jury to "weigh everything" and decide, based on "cold hard facts," not on sympathy or moral outrage.

Hiding the body, he said, did not prove that Donald and Lisa Boss killed Timothy Boss. "Is that consistent? Yes, it is. I'm not going to say it's not," he said, stressing, "That's not enough to prove something."

The issue with the boys' testimony, he said, was salient features. "These kids should have remembered some things similarly," he declared. Everything was different except 'get Dad,' Williams told the jury, referring to differences about seeing bleeding, medication, how many times Timothy was tied up, whether or not he had been knocked out, whether Roman was poking at Timothy and seeing wood splinters on the floor.

Claxton/Will, said Williams, described Timothy as looking drugged and sluggish, while Roman/Rudy said the opposite. "How can both be true?" asked Williams.

Later he said, "None of us knows what happened."

As Thoman had repeated what Donald Boss said, Williams repeated what Claxton/Will said, "I lied. So what."

The defense attorney urged the jury to look for a connection between what they were firmly convinced happened and to follow the law.

According to Williams, the state "didn't show a connection between anything Donald Boss did and the death of the child." He said there was no proof of cause of death or the chain of events leading to a cause of death.

Boss testified that he buried the body but that did not prove murder. Williams declared: "It means something tragic happened." "It boils down to: Did they prove Donald Boss caused Timothy Boss' death? -- and they didn't."

Whether or not the jury liked Donald Boss, he said, did not make him a murderer.

In a rebuttal of Williams' remarks, Thoman asked the jury not to let Donald Boss get away with killing Timothy.