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Kettering woman accused of stabbing husband enters not guilty plea

Shailaja Bathini, 40, of Kettering, faces multiple charges of felonious assault and kidnapping in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court after she allegedly held her husband at gunpoint before stabbing him inside their Walnut Walk home in Kettering.

Photo submitted by Kettering police Shailaja Bathini, 40, of Kettering, faces multiple charges of felonious assault and kidnapping in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court after she allegedly held her husband at gunpoint before stabbing him inside their Walnut Walk home in Kettering.

Garage door repairmen were working at 4979 Walnut Walk in Kettering on Dec. 29, 2009. The garage of the home was damaged after Steven Harlamert drove through it to escape his wife Shailaja Bathini. Harlamert told Kettering police that Bathini held him hostage, inside the home, for several hours before stabbing him.

Staff photo by Kelli Wynn Garage door repairmen were working at 4979 Walnut Walk in Kettering on Dec. 29, 2009. The garage of the home was damaged after Steven Harlamert drove through it to escape his wife Shailaja Bathini. Harlamert told Kettering police that Bathini held him hostage, inside the home, for several hours before stabbing him.

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Shailaja Bathini (right), with her lawyer, Jon Rion, by her side, makes a court appearance in a Montgomery County courtroom. Bathini is accused of holding her husband, Steven Harlamert, hostage at gunpoint, inside their home, before stabbing him with a paring knife. Harlamert was treated at Kettering Hospital and later released.

Staff photo by Ron Alvey Shailaja Bathini (right), with her lawyer, Jon Rion, by her side, makes a court appearance in a Montgomery County courtroom. Bathini is accused of holding her husband, Steven Harlamert, hostage at gunpoint, inside their home, before stabbing him with a paring knife. Harlamert was treated at Kettering Hospital and later released.

Detective and defense lawyer have brief altercation in courtroom hallway over request to get woman’s DNA sample

By Kelli Wynn, Staff Writer Updated 5:20 PM Tuesday, January 12, 2010

DAYTON — The defense attorney for a Kettering woman, accused of holding her husband hostage and stabbing him last month, said police did not have “probable cause” to arrest his client.

Jon Paul Rion, who represents Shailaja Bathini, 40, filed a motion on Jan. 7, to suppress statements she made and items seized from her home during the Dec. 20, incident.

Bathini, of 4979 Walnut Walk, was arraigned today, Jan. 12, before Judge Mary Wiseman in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. Rion entered a not guilty on behalf of Bathini.

Bathini, a substitute teacher, is charged with two counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, and one count each of kidnapping (felony or flight), kidnapping (terrorizing/physical harm) and a misdemeanor domestic violence.

Bathini is accused of holding her husband, Steven Harlamert, hostage for several hours inside their Walnut Walk home and stabbing him in his left shoulder with a paring knife as he tried to escape.

Harlamert, 39, a specialty food broker and owner of Harlow-HK Sales & Marketing Inc., was treated and released at Kettering Memorial Hospital.

Harlamert filed for divorce on Dec. 21, the same day Kettering police arrested Bathini at Miami Valley Hospital, where she was being treated for her injuries.

Bathini posted bond and was released from the Montgomery County Jail on Dec. 22, according to county sheriff’s records.

Bathini told police the Dec. 20 incident stemmed from an argument about a secret she threatened to reveal about her husband of five years, according to an affidavit filed with a search warrant in Kettering Municipal Court by police Detective Paul Markowski. The affidavit said Bathini told police Harlamert was the one who first produced the handgun she was accused of using to hold him hostage.

In Harlamert’s 911 call, he claimed he was being held hostage in the basement of the couple’s home.

Markowski appeared at Bathini’s arraignment today and confronted her afterwards in the courtroom hallway to deliver a search warrant for her DNA.

“You’re not to use the courthouse for your purposes, sir,” Rion told Markowski, who was surrounded by a crowd of Bathini’s family and friends.

The detective responded, “This isn’t my purpose, this is the purpose of the state, okay.”

“It wasn’t directed that you serve it here in the courthouse,” Rion told Markowski. “The courthouse is sacred for justice. Not for police purposes.”

But still Markowski insisted on serving the search warrant, and eventually Rion allowed Markowski to take a sample of Bathini’s DNA in one of the courthouse’s conference rooms.

Afterwards, Rion told the Dayton Daily News his client is innocent of the charges filed against her.

Rion’s motion to suppress said “no warrant or consent was obtained herein, rather the police officer performed an illegal search and seizure of the Defendant’s person and her property.”

Therefore, Rion asked the court “for an Order suppressing the seizures on Dec. 20, 2009 at 1 p.m.”

The motion to suppress also said, “Due to her illegal arrest, Defendant may have made some incriminating statements. Any statements made as a result of a faulty arrest must be suppressed.”

Rion added that Bathini did not receive Miranda warnings before being detained and “asked questions and, thus, any statements made prior to being Mirandized should be suppressed.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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