Lonnie Savage waits in the courtroom as members of the jury are selected for his trial in Chattanooga. Savage was on trial for attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault.Opening statements begin this morning in the trial of a 62-year-old man charged with trying to kill his boss with a box cutter.
Lonnie Savage is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault for allegedly attacking his boss, Marion Thomas Sims, at the Southern Cellulose Products Co. on July 10, 2009.
On Wednesday, Assistant District Attorneys Bret Alexander and David Schmidt, along with Savage's defense lawyer Lloyd Levitt, finished an all-day jury selection in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
Chattanooga police responded to the 105 W. 45th St. business shortly after the incident, according to a police report, and found Sims, who told police that Savage had "cut him several times with a box cutter" after Sims told Savage to "clock out and go home for the day after Mr. Savage was insubordinate."
Officer Alexis Mercado wrote in the report at Erlanger hospital and noted that Sims had several cuts including "a six-inch gash on his chest near his heart," another six-inch gash on his right shoulder and cuts on his elbow and wrist.
Savage also had a "deep laceration to his left wrist area which required surgery," Mercado wrote.
Savage told Mercado that Sims had "treated him unfairly at work" and, as they argued, he slashed at Sims four or five times, the report said. Sims told investigators that shortly before the attack Savage said, "I'm gonna kill you."
Witnesses told police they saw Savage coming at Sims with the box cutter as Sims tried to back away.
Early in the jury selection process, Levitt acknowledged his client didn't deny cutting Sims with the box cutter, but said it would be up to the jury to decide what crime he was guilty of - attempted murder or some form of assault.
Throughout the process, attorneys for both sides repeatedly asked potential jurors if they had ever experienced workplace violence, if they had any personal connection with depression or mental illness.
Court documents show Levitt plans to call experts in mental health to testify on Savage's behalf.
The jury is comprised of six men and eight women, 12 whites and two blacks.
Savage is black, Sims is white.