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Last updated on Tuesday, September 25, 2018
(BEDFORD) - Lincoln Pickett was found guilty of possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon this morning in Lawrence County Superior Court II.
The jury was to hear the case this morning, but Pickett chose to have Judge Williams Selva render a verdict in a bench trial.
Pickett entered the courtroom dressed in an orange jumpsuit with his hands and legs in shackles.
Judge Sleva asked jail officers to remove the hand shackles during the trial.
In Sept. 2017, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Pickett was entitled to a bifurcated trial.
A bifurcation is when a judge divides a trial into two parts. In this case, the first phase of the trial involved the murder charge while the second phase would allow the state to introduce evidence of a prior conviction that would establish a charge of possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
According to Lawrence County Prosecutor Michelle Woodward, Pickett was arrested on July 12, 2001, on a felony charge of escape- a Class C felony after violating terms of his probation. He pleaded guilty to the crime in a negotiated plea deal on November 8, 2002. According to Indiana Law, a person convicted of felony escape is not allowed to own or possess a firearm.
According to Indiana State Police Detective Michael Robbins, on Jan. 28th when Pickett was arrested for the murder of Kami Ratcliff, police found a Taurus ultra-lite .38 special handgun at the Pickett home on US 50 West.
According to testimony during the murder trial, his then-wife Jasmine Pickett said just before police arrived at the Pickett home on Jan. 28th Lincoln told her to put the gun in "his special place" in a holster hung from the post of the headboard in their bedroom. Instead, she hid the gun between the mattress and box spring of the couple's bed.
Lincoln's sister Allayna O'Neal also testified during the murder trial that Lincoln had shown her the handgun the day after the murder and had fired it at her home with her boyfriend Mel Rousch target practicing.
During an interview with police, the couple's oldest son, told officials that his father had purchased him a rifle, once owned a shotgun, and carried the Taurus handgun with him always for protection.
During an interview with police, Lincoln admitted to owning and possession the handgun.
Public Defender Joseph Lozano says it was obvious that Lincoln was trying to protect his then-wife Jasmine from any criminal charges, being that her DNA was found in the barrow of the handgun.
"There is reasonable doubt the handgun is his," he added.
Earlier this morning, the jury found Picket guilty of the murder of Kami Ratcliff, obstruction of justice, abuse of a corpse, false informing and failure to report a dead body.
The jury began deliberations around 1:18 p.m. on Monday. It took the jury around 11 hours to reach their verdict before they delivered their verdict around 12:20 a.m. this morning.
The jury found Pickett guilty of killing 29-year-old Kami Ratcliff on Jan. 21, 2016 in the back seat of his red Blazer after an argument. He then waited a week before burning her body in a burn pit at his home at 3413 US 50 West.
He will be sentenced by Judge Sleva on all charges on Oct. 26th at 9 a.m.
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