Nurse escaped conviction in boy’s death. Can he avoid penalties in assaults of sisters?

The jury that decided an Indiana nurse was insane and not responsible for killing a 6-year-old should have ruled the defendant was not guilty of assaulting the boy’s relatives in the same attack, a defense attorney argued in a new request to a judge.

Ronald Exantus’ defense team wants the assault convictions set aside since the jury decided he was guilty but mentally ill, rather than insane, when he hurt the young girls and their father. If the defense motion is successful, Exantus would serve no prison time but would face possible involuntary commitment to a mental hospital.

“We don’t feel that he is liable under the law for punishment,” public defender Bridget Hofler said Thursday. “We feel he needs treatment, and that’s what we would like to accomplish for him.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Keith Eardley had no comment Thursday. In a written response, he acknowledged that the Fayette County verdicts were “inconsistent and make no logical sense,” but he opposed the defense motion filed this week.

The jury acquitted the 34-year-old Exantus in the murder of Logan Tipton and burglary of the family’s Versailles house, then found the defendant guilty but mentally ill in the assaults of Logan’s sisters, Koral and Dakota Tipton, and father, Dean Tipton. All the offenses happened on the same night as the boy’s killing.

The inconsistent verdicts infuriated the Tipton family and prosecutors, who had hoped that Exantus would be found guilty of murder in the death of the child. The jury’s verdict also has been heavily criticized on local talk shows and social media. Had he been found guilty of murder, Exantus might have faced the death penalty.

The offenses occurred after Exantus, a dialysis nurse, drove from Indianapolis to Versailles, a place he had never been, entered the unlocked Tipton house, and stabbed Logan to death in the bedroom where he slept with siblings on Dec. 7, 2015.

A defense psychologist testified at trial that Exantus suffered from psychosis due to an underlying mental illness.

Koral Tipton testified that she was awakened by Logan’s crying, and she saw a man with dreadlocks stabbing her brother. When she told the man to stop, Exantus approached her with a butcher knife in one hand and a butter knife in the other. Exantus then “came at her with the butter knife,” traced it up her stomach to her face and cut her nose.

Dakota Tipton suffered a stab wound to her back. Dean Tipton started fighting with Exantus and both went to the floor. The father was not seriously injured.

In the motion, Hofler asked Special Judge Phil Patton to “vacate” or set aside the assault convictions and find Exantus not guilty by reason of insanity on those charges as well.

“There was no evidence that Exantus’ mental state was different when he committed the assaults than it was when he committed the murder and burglary,” Hofler writes.

“Clearly, there is nothing in the record to indicate that Ronald Exantus’ mental state changed between the murder and burglary and the assaults of Koral, Dakota and Dean Tipton,” the motion says. “There is nothing in the record to indicate that the psychosis cleared momentarily.”

Hofler cites a 1999 case in which a defendant named Harrell was convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a person in a drunken driving crash, but was convicted of second-degree assault for injuries sustained by a passenger. The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that Harrell could not be convicted of both reckless homicide and second-degree assault because the offenses required inconsistent legal findings as to his mental state.

In his response filed Wednesday, Eardley, the assistant commonwealth’s attorney, said it’s hard to understand the defense argument that there was not sufficient evidence for the jury to find Exantus guilty but mentally ill on the assaults.

If the jury believed Exantus was insane during the commission of the murder and burglary, “then it is self-evident” that he “must have been at the very least mentally ill during the commission” of the assaults, Eardley wrote.

“As such, it was not unreasonable for the jury to find the defendant guilty but mentally ill” on the assault charges, Eardley wrote.

The jury recommended a total sentence of 20 years in prison for Exantus. The trial was moved from Woodford County to Fayette County because of pretrial publicity.

It’s not clear when the judge will consider the defense motion in court. Exantus is scheduled to be sentenced April 24 in Woodford County.

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Nurse escaped conviction in boy’s death. Can he avoid penalties in assaults of sisters?."