Appeals court rejects appeal in Rose case
Sep. 27—The 11th District Court of Appeals has rejected John Rose's appeal of his murder conviction.
Rose was convicted in May of 2021 for the June 2020 murder of Paul Ruffo in Saybrook Township, and was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed his conviction in June of 2021.
Prosecutors claimed Rose went to Ruffo's home and stabbed him over a dispute involving a woman.
In an opinion released earlier this month, the appeals court rejected five arguments made by Rose's attorneys.
The first two assignments of error raised by Rose's appeal were that there was insufficient evidence to convict him, and he was convicted against the weight of the evidence.
Appeal filings raised the issue, but did not cite any specific arguments or citations to the transcript, which would allow the appeals court to dismiss them without further discussion, according to the opinion.
Despite that, the opinion recounted the evidence against Rose, including Ruffo's DNA on his clothing, messages between Rose and Ruffo and witness statements.
The next issue raised in the appeal was that Rose's now ex-wife testified without explicitly being told she was not required to do so.
The opinion states that the testimony was improper, but it would not have changed the outcome.
"The State still presented strong evidence from multiple witnesses indicating that appellant acted with purpose, and with prior calculation and design to cause the death of Ruffo," according to the opinion.
The fourth issue raised in Rose's appeal is that an improper video was shown during jury selection, and potential jurors were given an improper questionnaire.
The video objected to by the defense showed examples of circumstantial evidence, and the questionnaire has been in use for 32 years, according to the opinion.
The last issue raised by Rose's appeal is that Rose's defense counsel was ineffective.
That argument is rejected by the 11th District's opinion, which states the issues raised in the appeal are all strategic decisions made during a case.
According to court records, a second appeal in this case is still open, but it is unclear if any action will be taken in that case.
