Witness: Hubers 'cackled' she shot boyfriend

NEWPORT The victim's father. A former Miss Ohio. A jailhouse snitch. A friend of the couple. The neighbors who lived downstairs. An investigator. An expert in bloodstains.

A litany of witnesses took the stand Thursday to bolster the prosecution's contention that when Shayna Hubers shot Ryan Poston six times on a Friday night in October 2012 with his own handgun, it was murder.

Hubers, 24, has said she shot the 29-year-old attorney in self-defense after they argued and he pushed and threw her.

The compelling, and sometimes emotional, testimony on the trial's fourth day included the first family member to take the stand: Peter Carter, who helped raise Poston since age 1. Carter and Poston's biological father, Jay Poston, consider themselves co-parents along with his mother, Lisa.

The night before he died, Poston and Hubers visited Lisa and Peter Carter for dinner, to watch a political debate, and to share some good news: He'd just signed a settlement of a civil lawsuit with his former legal partner.

Carter testified that his son also needed some personal advice: He had a date with Miss Ohio on Friday, but was unsure how to tell Hubers.

"He said to me, 'My biggest issue is … Shayna is always around,'" Carter said. "He said, 'I don't know what to do to get her to leave.'"

"I told him to make sure that he was kind to Shayna and to be honest with her about what was going on," he said. "I told him to be direct, but to be kind."

Carter said he was unsure if his son ever took his advice, since he never had the chance to speak with him again.

Poston never made that date, Miss Ohio 2012 testified.

Audrey Bolte of Batavia told jurors that she and Poston were going to meet for drinks and to play pool at a Milford bar the night he was killed.

They were supposed to meet at 8 p.m. at Poston's condo, but Bolte was running late. They agreed to meet at the bar at 9:30 p.m., she said.

Bolte went to the bar, but "he never showed up," she told the jury.

By 9:30 p.m. that night, Ryan Poston was dead.

Vernon and Doris West, who live in the condo below Poston's, testified that they arrived home around 8:30 p.m. They heard a woman weeping on his deck and then return inside; Doris West put the time at around 8:45 or 8:50 p.m.

Moments later, the elderly retirees heard two noises that sounded like fireworks. Then they heard four more, followed by what sounded like something falling to the ground – perhaps a body, they said.

"The first two shots, I thought might have been fireworks," Vernon West testified. "But a few seconds later, I heard four shots, and I knew that wasn't fireworks."

The Wests also testified that they did not hear arguing or a physical fight, though Hubers called 911 at 8:53 p.m. to say she shot Poston in self-defense following a struggle. And Doris West said she also heard a woman weeping on the deck Thursday night.

And an expert in bloodstain patterns testified that he believes Poston was sitting at his dining room table when the first of six shots – to the head – was fired, and then fell to the floor.

The defense is expected to call its own expert witnesses to say otherwise.

Charged with murder, Hubers has been held at the Campbell County jail in Newport since the night of the shooting. A former inmate testified that she joked about the shooting and discussed her legal strategy.

"Did she ever laugh?" Commonwealth's Attorney Michelle Snodgrass asked Cecily Miller, a felon jailed with Hubers.

"Oh, yes."

"About what?"

"About shooting him in the face and giving him the nose job he always wanted," Miller said. "That's what bothered me – she cackled."

Hubers also discussed legal strategy, Miller testified.

"She said she was going to plead insanity, but she was too smart because she has the IQ of Einstein," she told the jury. "So she was going to plead battered wife syndrome."

Upon cross-examination by defense attorney David Mejia, Miller conceded that her memory might be affected by a brain tumor she had in the past.

Mejia also accused her of approaching prosecutors to receive a reduced sentence. Miller testified that she did not receive anything in exchange for her statement to prosecutors in 2013.

Upon cross-examination, Mejia has also worked to call into question parts of the police investigation.

Jurors have so far heard the 911 call Hubers placed at 8:53 p.m. and statements she made to police over more than two hours that night. They've also seen dozens of text messages exchanged between the couple.

Prosecutors have called more than a dozen witnesses and entered 100 items into evidence as they attempt to prove the shooting was murder.

Testimony has sometimes been graphic. Jurors have seen photos of the crime scene and the autopsy on several occasions, as well as Poston's bloodstained clothing.

Next, the defense will have the chance to make its case that it was self-defense. Hubers' mother is expected to be among the many witnesses the defense will call.

The trial began Monday and is expected to last two weeks.