Opinion ID: 1791
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Lydia Ceruti's Testimony

Text: Lydia Ceruti testified about her recollection of the April 28, 2002 attack, as well as the events leading up to the attack. Ceruti testified that she was the sole lessee named on the rental agreement for the Clark Street apartment. Two or three months before the April 28 incident, Ceruti had ended her relationship with Higdon. Higdon had moved out and Ceruti retained custody of the children, but Higdon did come to the apartment from time to time to talk to Ceruti and see his children. Ceruti testified that on the day of the incident, Higdon came over to the apartment asking to see his children, and Ceruti let him in. After a period of time, Ceruti asked Higdon to leave, but he refused. Higdon asked if he could stay at the Clark Street apartment a few extra days because he had nowhere else to go, but Ceruti denied his request. Higdon then grabbed Ceruti by the arm, took her into the bathroom, made her take off all of her clothes, and then told her, Look at you, you're fat, you're ugly, nobody is going to want you, no one is going to want these kids. Ceruti was eventually able to put her clothes back on and then leave the apartment with her son, Brice. Ceruti lied to Higdon and told him that she was taking Brice over to her mother's house. She did this because [o]therwise, he would not have let me out. Upon leaving the apartment, she instead went to English's home and asked to use his cell phone to call 911. According to Ceruti, she called 911 because she was very afraid of Higdon due to his propensity for violence. [10] After calling 911, Ceruti, English, and Brice went back to the apartment and waited in Ceruti's car for the police to arrive. Before the police arrived, Higdon came out and approached the car on two separate occasions, making threats to Ceruti and English. At one point, he specifically threatened to break in the windows if they did not unlock the doors and talk to him. Ceruti called the police four additional times before they finally arrived. The police then escorted Ceruti into the apartment and searched for Higdon, who had apparently left the apartment with Ceruti's cell phone, which she had left somewhere in the apartment. The police told Ceruti to call back if Higdon returned, and then they left the scene. Ceruti came back down to the car and escorted English and Brice up to the apartment. About an hour and a half after the police left, Higdon reappeared at the apartment building and forced his way into the apartment in order to have a few words with Billy. After speaking to English, Higdon turned and approached Ceruti, again asking her if he could stay a few extra days. She again refused, but while doing so she saw her cell phone in one of Higdon's pockets and attempted to reach for it. Higdon, who was very agitated, then lifted his hand as if he were going to hit her. Instead of hitting her, he grabbed Ceruti by the arm and pulled her into the hallway. English then stood up and approached Higdon. While English approached, Higdon pulled out a long kitchen knife that he had concealed behind his back some place. Higdon and English then began fighting. According to Ceruti, Higdon was trying to cut English and also throw him over the bannister in the hallway. At some point, English also produced two knives which he used during the fight. After a little while, Higdon ran into one of the bedrooms and called the police using Ceruti's cell phone. According to Ceruti, English never threatened to kill Higdon during the incident. Ceruti denied ever placing a knife in the hallway near the bedroom in which Higdon hid. She also denied trying to intimidate or influence Daniel Lamont's testimony. She instead claimed that she had asked Lamont to move out of the apartment because he had left a crack pipe under or near the couch and within reach of Ceruti's children. Lamont, who was drunk at the time, violently grabbed Ceruti's hand and forced her to give him back the key to the apartment. At some point after this encounter, Ceruti called the police and reported the incident. At the evidentiary hearing, English's new appointed attorney submitted as evidence a police report which charged Lamont with assault and battery and noted Ceruti's injury from the attack, which included redness and swelling to her right wrist. Ceruti also denied threatening or offering sexual favors to Kevin Whitehouse. In fact, she claimed that Whitehouse had revealed to her that he wanted English put in jail so that he could have a relationship with her. According to Ceruti, Whitehouse called her on several occasions trying to initiate a relationship, which she refused.