Oregon man gets probation in death of father

5/31/2013

A former Oregon man acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 3 death of his father was placed on probation for three years today.

Jacob Kutsch, 21, of Maumee was convicted of a misdemeanor count of assault following a one-day bench trial before Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Stacy Cook in April.

Initially indicted for murder and then for the less serious charge of involuntary manslaughter, Mr. Kutsch’s attorney Jerome Phillips argued that while Mr. Kutsch had been in a verbal and physical altercation with his father, John Kutsch, 58, on the day he died, the elder Mr. Kutsch actually died from undiagnosed heart disease.

In sentencing Mr. Kutsch, Judge Cook said the court does not hold him responsible for his father’s death but neither does it condone bad or aggressive behavior.

She ordered him to undergo mental health treatment, drug screens, and said he could pay off his court costs by performing community service.