Attorney Says Her Client was Wrongfully Convicted, Murderer Walks Free

BROOKSVILLE, FL – A near 10-year-old homicide case came to a close last week after the suspect was found guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of an 18-year-old Brooksville man. Defense Attorney Debra Tuomey says her client is innocent and that the person responsible for the crime turned State's Witness to avoid being charged.

On September 15, 2015, 18-year-old Dylan Thornton's body was discovered in a field near Sunshine Grove Road, after he disappeared from his 18th birthday party on September 12th. The State Medical Examiner ruled the death accidental due to ingesting Alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (Alpha-PVP) more commonly known as "Flakka."

Nearly two years after Thornton's death, investigators with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) traveled to Kansas to arrest then-23-year-old Isaac Troy Lemons on charges of Third-Degree Murder and Sale of Controlled Substance.

According to court documents, the only probable cause developed by investigators was various statements made by friends of Thornton's who attended his birthday party on the night of his disappearance. Those statements were conflicting and often changed throughout the investigation, but investigators were still able to obtain a warrant for his arrest.

The trial held last week was not the first attempt by the State to prove Lemons was responsible for Thornton's death. Isaac's first trial took place in August of 2021, which resulted in a mistrial, with only one of six jurors believing Lemons was guilty. With less evidence than was presented in the 2021 trial, it raised questions as to how a unanimous decision was reached within two hours of deliberation this time around. Most mistrials result in cases being dismissed, unless the State presents evidence that was not available or that they believe would overwhelmingly change the outcome with a new trial. Defense attorneys say this creates a constitutional dilemma of "double jeopardy," and say the State is essentially getting another "bite of the apple."

During last week's trial, Tuomey asserted in closing arguments that the last person to see Thornton alive should be the one on trial. She goes on to explain that Thornton left his birthday party with Brandon Capehart around 11:00 p.m. from an address on Holly Hammock Lane. At some point during the evening or early morning hours, Thornton collapsed on the hill near Sunshine Grove Road. Instead of calling 911 or notifying anyone of where Thornton was located, Capehart fled and attempted to conceal the fact that he was the last person with him. Tuomey told jurors that Capehart hid his shoes in the doorway of a nearby business so that they could not tie him to footprints found near Thornton's body. Tuomey also provided surveillance video of Capehart trying to steal a black shirt at the Walmart on Cortez Blvd. Tuomey believes he was trying to disguise his identity in case law enforcement was searching for him in the area. Tuomey says that evidence alone should have created enough probable cause to arrest Capehart instead of Lemons, whose case is based solely on pure speculation.

On Tuesday, Tuomey filed two motions to try and address issues that she believes should result in Lemons receiving an acquittal or at the very least a new trial.

According to state law, for a suspect to be convicted of murder there must be a predicating felony occurring in the commission of the crime. That's why investigators included the charge of Sale of Controlled Substance, despite having no evidence to prove that charge. In a Renewed Motion for Judgement of Acquittal Tuomey writes, "The alleged facts elicited during trial wholly failed to establish the substance allegedly sold by Mr. Lemons was Alpha-PVP. There was no evidence from an experienced undercover narcotics officer as to presumptive test on any illicit substance associated with the house party, no videotaped transactions potentially establishing the nature of the substance, nor did any state's expert testimony establish the substance sold was Alpha-PVP." Tuomey provided numerous case law examples to support her motion, including Brothers v. State which reads, "When the evidence against a criminally accused person is circumstantial, a motion for judgment of acquittal should be granted if the state fails to present evidence from which the jury can exclude every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt."

The State's only evidence used to support their case was that Thornton's bodily fluids, not blood, tested positive for Alpha-PVP, something Tuomey says is not reliable and cannot be used as a replacement for testing blood. R News could not locate case law where bodily fluids were ever used in prosecuting a suspect for homicide.

In addition to the multiple failures by the State to prove their case, Tuomey claims Lemons did not receive a fair trial because Judge Daniel B. Merritt Jr. assisted the State with researching information during trial. In a Motion for New Trial Tuomey writes:

Mr. Lemons was deemed indigent for due process costs. During the trial, this Court on multiple occasions announced, outside the presence of the jury, that the Defendant's hired forensic toxicologist was paid $40,000.00 for his services and requested the undersigned counsel that the defense's hired expert be present prior to Friday, August 23, 2024, because the State would likely be resting its case on Thursday, August 22, 2024, and this Court had previously scheduled obligations for the week of August 26, 2024.

Counsel for the undersigned previously advised the Court the trial would take over a week. The undersigned counsel secured the presence of its expert forensic toxicologist for Thursday, August 22, 2024. During the testimony of the Defendant's expert forensic toxicologist, the State sought to discredit the defendant's expert based on the amount of money he had received for his retention and testimony. The State was in possession of two previously entered orders outlining the expert's hourly rate and the total amount of hours he was allowed to bill. The undersigned and the State approached the bench, wherein it was discussed whether the State was in possession of the correct orders. The Court began to actively research on its own the docket, looking for a newly entered order outlining additional funding for the defense expert, of which the Court was aware but the State was not, nor had possession of, in an attempt to actively assist the State with discrediting the Defendants expert witness.

The undersigned advised this Court that she objected to the Court assisting the State. Wherein, this Court stopped its review of the docket and advised the undersigned that she could utilize her own I.T. personnel going forward to assist her rather than Court personnel.

In instructing a jury, the jury is instructed on a variety of circumstances that are to be used in weighing the credibility of testifying witnesses. One of the considerations is whether or not a witness has "received any money" or "other benefit in order to get the witness to testify." As such, this Court actively sought to assist the State of Florida in its attempt to discredit one of its key witnesses- a forensic toxicologist. The trial of this case hinged on the reliability of the forensic toxicology results put forth by the State of Florida. Thus, this was not a minor indiscretion.

It is "not whether the judge is subjectively biased, but whether the average judge in his position is 'likely' to be neutral, or whether there is an unconstitutional potential for bias." Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal, Co., Inc., 556 U.S. 868 (2009).

Lemons' case has been reopened for Judge Merritt to rule on Tuomey's motions.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 7, 2024.