Stevens: Stabbing was self-defense

Defendant, daughter testify at trial

ONEIDA, N.Y. » Michael Stevens said self-defense was the reason Erin Chesebro was stabbed in the early morning of July 15, 2016, according to Oneida Investigator William Clark, who testified Friday in Madison County Court.

Stevens is on trial for attempted murder.

“I never had the knife in my hand,” Stevens told Clark after he was taken into custody that day, according to Clark’s testimony. “I tried to walk out of the house; I tried to get out of that situation.”

Defense Attorney John Ras- pante called Stevens to the stand to give his version of what happened that July morning.

Stevens testified that, on the night before the incident, both he and Chesebro were drinking and taking a number of drugs, including hydrocodone, oxycodone, crack cocaine and heroin. Stevens said he and Chesebro got into an argument after the supply had been exhausted because she wanted more fromhis stash of drugs. Whenhe refused, he said, Chesebro threw an ashtray at his chest, then came at him with a knife while he was distracted.

Stevens said the two struggled and, when Chesebro swung the knife at him, he grabbed her arms and pushed them back at her, leading her to cut her own cheek.

Cross-examined by Assistant

District Attorney Robert Mascari about how Chesebro wasn’t stopped by having a knife through her cheek, Stevens said she did seem shocked for a second or two.

“Instead of getting away, you stayed. Why?” Mascari asked.

“I thought that was the end of it,” Stevens said.

Stevens recalled the fight continued from there, eventually waking their three children, at which time, he said, he told his son to call the police. Stevens said he continued fighting Chesebro for control of the knife when it broke and she fell, cutting her neck.

With Chesebro bleeding and his kids screaming, Stevens said, he went to get a towel. “That’s when I saw her running out the door with the kids,” he testified.

Once outside, Chesebro collapsed and was tended to by Oneida City Police and EMS, and Stevens was taken into custody.

During his testimony Thursday, Clark said that after Stevens was arrested, he was taken to the OPD squad room, read his Miranda rights, photographed and then asked questions about what happened, after which hewas taken into the interview room.

That four-hour session was shown in full to the jury on Thursday.

On multiple occasions during the video, Clark left Stevens alone in the room, where he could be seen and heard sobbing and talking aloud, saying “I love her so much” and that he “loved her to pieces.”

The video also showed Clark asking Stevens about the events of July 15.

Stevens said he grabbed the knife blade to defend himself, wounding his hands. Clark photographed what he described as small abrasions along the inside of Stevens’ fingers, and he asked Stevens why he didn’t have more severe wounds after grabbing a knife blade.

“I do a lot of labor,” Stevens said on the video. “I’ve got leather hands.”

Mascari asked Clark if he recalled Stevens shedding any tears during that interview. Clark said “no.”

William Kaulback, of Canastota, testified Thursday about events while he and Stevens were both confined in Madison County Jail.

Kaulback testified that Stevens approached him sometime around Aug. 16, 2016, to ask if either Kaulback or a family member could kill both Chesebro and David Scribner, theman Chesbro started seeing after Stevens went to jail.

“He was nervous about two witnesses taking the stand,” Kaulback testified.

Kaulback said Stevens wanted to make sure neither Chesebro nor Scribner could testify against him. “He told me he had a good chance of beating the trial if theywere not there,” Kaulback said.

Kaulback, whose uncle had married Stevens’ sister, has a lengthy criminal record and been in and out of prison. He wrote a letter to the district attorney that eventually made its way to Oneida Investigator David Meeker Jr. in which Kaulback made an offer in his letter, “I’m willing to wear a wire to record Stevens and testify in court,” he had written.

Kaulback said he had worked with police in the past and was interested in working something out to knock down a number of charges he was facing. He took what he was offered, but the deal was rescinded after he broke the law while on probation. Despite no longer having that incentive, Kaulback said he decided to testify anyway.

“So you’ve got nothing to gain for testifying?” Mascari asked Kaulback on the stand.

“No sir,” Kaulback replied.

On Aug. 24, police placed awire on Kaulback and had him speak with Stevens about killing Chesebro and Scribner. During the conversation, Kaulback pretended to offer the job to his cousin, whowas actually Meeker listening in on a phone call.

On Thursday, the prosecution played a recording of Stevens and Kaulback dis- cussing “There back,” Kaulback ain’t the no proposed taking said on this hit. the recording.

On the recording, Stevens laughed and said he didn’t care, adding that he would do it himself “if I was out there.”

During his testimony on Friday, Stevens defended his actions, saying he never actually meant to kill either Chesebro or Scribner and simply wanted to antagonize them into not testifying.

Stevens said that, before the morning of July 15, he had intended on getting clean from drugs after being released from jail, but that Chesebro had an alcohol and drug problem and got him using again. He said every argument that devolved into violence between them was because Chesebro hit him and threw things at him.

He recalled one Father’s Day when Chesebro made dinner, but he was on drugs and didn’t want to eat any of it. “She dumped lasagna in my lap. I jumped up because it was really hot and she stabbed me in the shoulder with a fork,” he said. When police showed up, Stevens said, he declined to press charges. Stevens said that, while their relationship had its ups and downs, he would never do anything to hurt Chesebro. He said he loved her. Taking the stand as a rebuttal witness, Stevens’ eldest daughter, Arienna Stevens, 14, contradicted her father According to the daughter, Stevens would escalate arguments into physical violence often, pushing Chesebro, punching her and throwing things at her. In her testimony, she made it clear that she considered her home life to be far from perfect and that she would often go stay with her grandmother. “I was sick of the bullcrap, sick of the abuse, and would go to my grandma’s to escape,” she testified. The daughter said she took a week off from school to watch the trial and that she was looking for closure. “My life has been traumatic,” she said. “I want people to know.”

Michael Stevens