BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Nine years after Anthony Scott was found shot to death in an Avondale parking lot, prosecutors finally got a chance Monday to take his accused killer to court.
Dale Causey, 40, faces charges of aggravated murder and robbery for allegedly shooting Mr. Scott in September 1989.
A grand jury indicted him on the charges a month later, but Mr. Causey fled Cincinnati and remained at large until police caught up to him in June.
His trial began with jury selection Monday before Judge David Davis in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
At the time of the shooting, residents nearby reported hearing two people arguing in a car before shots rang out. They said the victim's body was pushed from a car before it sped away.
Authorities say Mr. Causey was a suspect from the beginning, but police were unable to locate him. One of the last tips they received was that he was in Indiana raising Rottweilers.
But a call to Crime Stoppers in Cleveland led authorities to a house in Columbus, where Cincinnati's Violent Crimes Task Force found Mr. Causey in a yard feeding Rottweilers.
Before his trial began Monday, Mr. Causey's attorneys asked Judge Davis to bar prosecutors from telling jurors about a statement Mr. Causey made to police after his arrest.
Mr. Causey reportedly stated: "You got me arrested, but you don't have me in court yet. And you got no witnesses."
Assistant county prosecutor Richard Gibson said Mr. Causey volunteered those comments without any prompting from police. The defense contended the statement should not be allowed at the trial, saying the officer violated Mr. Causey's rights.
Mr. Gibson said the suspect gave several wrong Social Security numbers when he was booked.
"I've been using so many different ones," Mr. Causey allegedly said, "it's hard to keep them straight."
