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Post by RED on Dec 19, 2007 13:25:07 GMT -6
Richey to take plea, return to Scotland > Greg Sowinski | gsowinski@... - 12.19.2007 > > OTTAWA - 10:23 a.m., Dec. 19 - Former death row inmate > Kenneth Richey's fight to regain his freedom will end > Thursday in a Putnam County courtroom through a deal > with prosecutors that will allow him to walk away a > free man, The Lima News has learned. > > Richey will plead no contest to involuntary > manslaughter, child endangering and breaking and > entering, according to his attorney, Ken Parsignian. > Richey was charged in connection with the June 30, > 1986, fire death of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins at a > Columbus Grove apartment complex. As part of the deal, > prosecutors have agreed to give Richey credit for time > served and he will return to Scotland on Friday, > Parsigian said. > > Richey has maintained his innocence throughout the 21 > years he's been locked up. He was sentenced to death > following a conviction at 1987 trial. After years of > appeals, Richey was awarded a new trial when the 6th > Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year ruled > Richey's trial attorneys didn't do a good enough job > representing him >
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Post by RED on Dec 19, 2007 13:29:58 GMT -6
Two things are true regarding this case. First: If it was the State of Ohio's intention to make Richey pay for the alleged murder of Cynthia Collins, they failed. Second: If it was the intention of Kenny Richey to clear his name from the dark cloud of a murder conviction, he failed. Does it make sense? It sure does. The State of Ohio will save hundreds of thousands of dollars and the potentially embarrasing result of seeing Richey acquitted and Richey will be walking free without putting himself through another trial. In the end the public opinion will remain at a status quo. I guess everyone wins. Love, RED
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Post by josephdphillips on Dec 19, 2007 14:00:37 GMT -6
Two things are true regarding this case. First: If it was the State of Ohio's intention to make Richey pay for the alleged murder of Cynthia Collins, they failed. Second: If it was the intention of Kenny Richey to clear his name from the dark cloud of a murder conviction, he failed. Does it make sense? It sure does. The State of Ohio will save hundreds of thousands of dollars and the potentially embarrasing result of seeing Richey acquitted and Richey will be walking free without putting himself through another trial. In the end the public opinion will remain at a status quo. I guess everyone wins. : Love, RED A plea of no contest doesn't clear his name, though. Plus he is still subject to civil litigation, correct?
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Post by Rev. Agave on Dec 19, 2007 14:03:59 GMT -6
Two things are true regarding this case. First: If it was the State of Ohio's intention to make Richey pay for the alleged murder of Cynthia Collins, they failed. Second: If it was the intention of Kenny Richey to clear his name from the dark cloud of a murder conviction, he failed. Does it make sense? It sure does. The State of Ohio will save hundreds of thousands of dollars and the potentially embarrasing result of seeing Richey acquitted and Richey will be walking free without putting himself through another trial. In the end the public opinion will remain at a status quo. I guess everyone wins. : Love, RED A plea of no contest doesn't clear his name, though. Plus he is still subject to civil litigation, correct? I don't think a plea of no contest can be used in civil court, and I doubt he has any money in the first place. My guess is that he'll return to Scotland, which probably has a bunch of his penpals there terrified.
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Post by RED on Dec 19, 2007 14:14:47 GMT -6
Right, that's the point. If he wanted to clear his name, he failed. As for the plea, the issue for civil purposes is not the plea but the adjudication on it. However, no one is going after him. Quite the opposite. All along the question was whether, upon an acquittal, he would bring a 1983 action against the state of Ohio. Now THAT'S gone. Love, RED Two things are true regarding this case. First: If it was the State of Ohio's intention to make Richey pay for the alleged murder of Cynthia Collins, they failed. Second: If it was the intention of Kenny Richey to clear his name from the dark cloud of a murder conviction, he failed. Does it make sense? It sure does. The State of Ohio will save hundreds of thousands of dollars and the potentially embarrasing result of seeing Richey acquitted and Richey will be walking free without putting himself through another trial. In the end the public opinion will remain at a status quo. I guess everyone wins. : Love, RED A plea of no contest doesn't clear his name, though. Plus he is still subject to civil litigation, correct?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2007 14:33:15 GMT -6
Right, that's the point. If he wanted to clear his name, he failed. As for the plea, the issue for civil purposes is not the plea but the adjudication on it. However, no one is going after him. Quite the opposite. All along the question was whether, upon an acquittal, he would bring a 1983 action against the state of Ohio. Now THAT'S gone. Love, RED A plea of no contest doesn't clear his name, though. Plus he is still subject to civil litigation, correct? I'm disappointed. If he was as innocent as he has been claiming, he should have demanded a new trial. Unless, of course, he has been just throwing turds out there and seeing if they stuck. I know if I were innocent, I would rather sit and rot in prison, knowing that I am innocent, than to take a plea agreement and say I did it. He11 I would be executed before I would say that I was guilty. Kind of makes you wonder now if he was as innocent as his supporters and Kenny say he is. Actually this is disgusting. I have a question Red. Could there be any civil action taken against Richey at this time? I don't know what it is like anywhere else but in MN there is a 3 year statute of limitation.
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Post by RED on Dec 19, 2007 15:06:43 GMT -6
I think that any civil statute would have been gone by now. I'm not aware of any civil statute that allows claims for wrongful death after so long. Love, RED Right, that's the point. If he wanted to clear his name, he failed. As for the plea, the issue for civil purposes is not the plea but the adjudication on it. However, no one is going after him. Quite the opposite. All along the question was whether, upon an acquittal, he would bring a 1983 action against the state of Ohio. Now THAT'S gone. Love, RED I'm disappointed. If he was as innocent as he has been claiming, he should have demanded a new trial. Unless, of course, he has been just throwing turds out there and seeing if they stuck. I know if I were innocent, I would rather sit and rot in prison, knowing that I am innocent, than to take a plea agreement and say I did it. He11 I would be executed before I would say that I was guilty. Kind of makes you wonder now if he was as innocent as his supporters and Kenny say he is. Actually this is disgusting. I have a question Red. Could there be any civil action taken against Richey at this time? I don't know what it is like anywhere else but in MN there is a 3 year statute of limitation.
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Post by Rev. Agave on Dec 19, 2007 15:11:04 GMT -6
I think it is 2 years in OH: codes.ohio.gov/orc/2125.02(D) (1) Except as provided in division (D)(2) of this section, a civil action for wrongful death shall be commenced within two years after the decedentās death.
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Post by josephdphillips on Dec 19, 2007 16:51:03 GMT -6
I think that any civil statute would have been gone by now. I'm not aware of any civil statute that allows claims for wrongful death after so long. Wouldn't a criminal trial put a civil trial in abeyance? One more question, although perhaps it's more appropriate for Allison -- doesn't a no-contest plea create a criminal record? For purposes of employment, it's the same as conviction, isn't it?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2007 17:47:14 GMT -6
Just depends, I think 20 years on death row may change your mind Right, that's the point. If he wanted to clear his name, he failed. As for the plea, the issue for civil purposes is not the plea but the adjudication on it. However, no one is going after him. Quite the opposite. All along the question was whether, upon an acquittal, he would bring a 1983 action against the state of Ohio. Now THAT'S gone. Love, RED I'm disappointed. If he was as innocent as he has been claiming, he should have demanded a new trial. Unless, of course, he has been just throwing turds out there and seeing if they stuck. I know if I were innocent, I would rather sit and rot in prison, knowing that I am innocent, than to take a plea agreement and say I did it. He11 I would be executed before I would say that I was guilty. Kind of makes you wonder now if he was as innocent as his supporters and Kenny say he is. Actually this is disgusting. I have a question Red. Could there be any civil action taken against Richey at this time? I don't know what it is like anywhere else but in MN there is a 3 year statute of limitation.
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Dec 19, 2007 19:20:16 GMT -6
My opinion is he is still guity. Scotland can have his nasty self. Let us hope he learned something in prison, but I doubt he did.
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Post by D.E.E. on Dec 19, 2007 20:17:29 GMT -6
My opinion is he is still guity. Scotland can have his nasty self. Let us hope he learned something in prison, but I doubt he did. I will be satisfied if he learned to stay out of the US.
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Post by brumsongs on Dec 20, 2007 4:10:55 GMT -6
Right, that's the point. If he wanted to clear his name, he failed. As for the plea, the issue for civil purposes is not the plea but the adjudication on it. However, no one is going after him. Quite the opposite. All along the question was whether, upon an acquittal, he would bring a 1983 action against the state of Ohio. Now THAT'S gone. Love, RED I'm disappointed. If he was as innocent as he has been claiming, he should have demanded a new trial. Unless, of course, he has been just throwing turds out there and seeing if they stuck. I know if I were innocent, I would rather sit and rot in prison, knowing that I am innocent, than to take a plea agreement and say I did it. He11 I would be executed before I would say that I was guilty. Kind of makes you wonder now if he was as innocent as his supporters and Kenny say he is. Actually this is disgusting. I have a question Red. Could there be any civil action taken against Richey at this time? I don't know what it is like anywhere else but in MN there is a 3 year statute of limitation. I suspect that his lawyers have told him this could go on for years yet. He has chronic heart disease and has basically had no life, time to cut and run. Also he may have concluded that people like Mike C would say he was guilty whatever a court decided, some people are just like that.
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Dec 20, 2007 7:22:16 GMT -6
No, I don't look at opinion. I look at fact. What I have seen shows me that he is guilty. A jury said so. The State said so. And the appeals courts did too.
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Post by Californian on Dec 20, 2007 7:30:55 GMT -6
No, I don't look at opinion. I look at fact. What I have seen shows me that he is guilty. A jury said so. The State said so. And the appeals courts did too. More to the point, he says so. The "no contest" plea is just that-he's not contesting the allegations in the criminal complaint. As to civil liability, that ended long ago, and civil judgments are hard enough to collect between states, let alone countries.
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Post by brumsongs on Dec 20, 2007 7:33:19 GMT -6
No, I don't look at opinion. I look at fact. What I have seen shows me that he is guilty. A jury said so. The State said so. And the appeals courts did too. More to the point, he says so. The "no contest" plea is just that-he's not contesting the allegations in the criminal complaint. As to civil liability, that ended long ago, and civil judgments are hard enough to collect between states, let alone countries. i don't think ohio would have let him go under any circumstances without a guilty plea. he turnd down 11 years remember.
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Post by Felix2 on Dec 20, 2007 7:38:55 GMT -6
More to the point, he says so. The "no contest" plea is just that-he's not contesting the allegations in the criminal complaint. As to civil liability, that ended long ago, and civil judgments are hard enough to collect between states, let alone countries. i don't think ohio would have let him go under any circumstances without a guilty plea. he turnd down 11 years remember. If Ohio really thought for a moment that he was really guilty and it was established they'd not agree a deal like this. This unfortunately gets Ohio off the hook.
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Post by Californian on Dec 20, 2007 7:52:25 GMT -6
i don't think ohio would have let him go under any circumstances without a guilty plea. he turnd down 11 years remember. Yeah, and.....? One of the things he will do is stand up in open court and elocute his guilt. Spin that as you will.
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Post by brumsongs on Dec 20, 2007 7:54:54 GMT -6
i don't think ohio would have let him go under any circumstances without a guilty plea. he turnd down 11 years remember. Yeah, and.....? One of the things he will do is stand up in open court and elocute his guilt. Spin that as you will. There is no doubt they have successfully broken him. That, after all, is what justice is all about......
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Post by Californian on Dec 20, 2007 8:07:25 GMT -6
There is no doubt they have successfully broken him. That, after all, is what justice is all about...... I'm sure a cell on Ohio's Death Row is a remarkable venue to clarify one's thinking vis-a-viz one's pride versus practicality.
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Post by brumsongs on Dec 20, 2007 8:13:58 GMT -6
There is no doubt they have successfully broken him. That, after all, is what justice is all about...... I'm sure a cell on Ohio's Death Row is a remarkable venue to clarify one's thinking vis-a-viz one's pride versus practicality. Most certainly, none of which has any bearing upon guilt or innocence.
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Post by Californian on Dec 20, 2007 8:39:04 GMT -6
(teletype sound effects)
This just in...
After Decades in Prison, Freedom for Man
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- For more than two decades, Ken Richey insisted he didn't set a fire that killed a toddler. He maintained his innocence from behind bars, even though it cost him his freedom.
He turned down a plea deal soon after his arrest in 1986 that would have sprung him years ago. And in just the last few months, he said no again when prosecutors offered to free him if he would admit to starting the fire.
Now Richey, 43, is getting ready to walk free on his own terms after spending 20 years on Ohio's death row, where he once came within an hour of being executed.
Richey, a U.S.-British citizen whose death sentence was overturned earlier this year, agreed to enter a plea deal Thursday that will allow him to accept a sentence of time already served and go home to his native Scotland, his attorney said.
He will enter no contest pleas to attempted involuntary manslaughter, child endangering and breaking and entering, said attorney Ken Parsigian.
"That's as good as you can get," Parsigian said.
Richey was originally convicted of setting a fire that killed 2-year-old Cynthia Collins in 1986. He stayed on death row until a federal appeals court determined in August that his lawyers mishandled his case.
The state was set to try him again in March and to seek another death sentence.
Instead, Richey will plead no contest to the state's charge that he told the toddler's mother he would baby-sit the girl, but that he didn't and left her in harm's way, Parsigian said.
"We would never agree to anything on murder or arson or a guilty plea," he said.
For Richey, it will be a day he has dreamed about.
"You've got to try to not lose hope," he said in a November interview with The Associated Press. "I got that way myself, almost, a couple of times."
He admitted he was a bit worried about what life would be like outside of prison.
"It's kind of scary," he said from his cell. "I'm still living in the '80s. The world has changed and left me behind."
Following his release, Richey will share a celebratory beer or two with his brother, who still lives in Ohio, before he leaves for Scotland on Friday to spend Christmas with his mother.
He plans on staying there and said he might live on a farm. Richey's former fiancee, Karen Torley, from Edinburgh, said he's anxious to come home.
"So many things have changed in the world since he has been in prison, so many advances in technology, the Internet and such and it must be nerve-racking," she said. "I think it will take a bit of time for him to get used to it."
Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers said he would not comment on why he agreed to the deal until after Thursday's plea hearing.
While Richey's case has generated limited interest in Ohio, his name is a familiar one in Britain. He has drawn support from members of the British Parliament and the late Pope John Paul II.
"To be honest we have had one step forward and two steps back in this case and I wondered if this day would ever come," said Scottish lawmaker Alistair Carmichael, who has campaigned for Richey's release.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2007 8:45:32 GMT -6
No, I don't look at opinion. I look at fact. What I have seen shows me that he is guilty. A jury said so. The State said so. And the appeals courts did too. No a jury did not say so. He never had a jury trial. He was convicted by a 3 judge panal.
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Dec 20, 2007 8:53:37 GMT -6
I will then, admit I was wrong about the Juy part. But I would also think that he had it better because with 3 judges, he just needs to convience 2, not 12. This does not change the guilt of him either. He got away with murder.
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Post by Californian on Dec 20, 2007 9:28:09 GMT -6
No, I don't look at opinion. I look at fact. What I have seen shows me that he is guilty. A jury said so. The State said so. And the appeals courts did too. No a jury did not say so. He never had a jury trial. He was convicted by a 3 judge panal. Judges are in fact "Jurists." And if he was tried by a three-judge panel, it was at his request, as a jury trial is a Constitutional right.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2007 10:01:09 GMT -6
I do think there is a difference between judges and Juries. I believe these days everyone is tried by a jury in a capital case but I could be wrong. But I personally believe he was silly to choose a 3 judge panal since as Mike said there is less to convince. I was not commenting on his guilt I was just say it was not a judge and jury which said he did it thats all. I think for those who say he is guilty or not, they should at least know the basic facts starting with the fact he did not have a jury trial.
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Post by Felix2 on Dec 20, 2007 10:05:28 GMT -6
I do think there is a difference between judges and Juries. I believe these days everyone is tried by a jury in a capital case but I could be wrong. But I personally believe he was silly to choose a 3 judge panal since as Mike said there is less to convince. I was not commenting on his guilt I was just say it was not a judge and jury which said he did it thats all. I think for those who say he is guilty or not, they should at least know the basic facts starting with the fact he did not have a jury trial. Kenny Richie is not a nice piece of work personality wise, but he did not kill this child, and Ohio dismally failed to prove it.
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Post by D.E.E. on Dec 20, 2007 10:10:36 GMT -6
I do think there is a difference between judges and Juries. I believe these days everyone is tried by a jury in a capital case but I could be wrong. But I personally believe he was silly to choose a 3 judge panal since as Mike said there is less to convince. I was not commenting on his guilt I was just say it was not a judge and jury which said he did it thats all. I think for those who say he is guilty or not, they should at least know the basic facts starting with the fact he did not have a jury trial. Kenny Richie is not a nice piece of work personality wise, but he did not kill this child, and Ohio dismally failed to prove it. Since he has as much as admitted guilt and will have to tell it all, I believe he did. I have not always felt this way, but since he will have to explain what he did, I do now.
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Post by Felix2 on Dec 20, 2007 10:14:50 GMT -6
Kenny Richie is not a nice piece of work personality wise, but he did not kill this child, and Ohio dismally failed to prove it. Since he has as much as admitted guilt and will have to tell it all, I believe he did. I have not always felt this way, but since he will have to explain what he did, I do now. Admitted guilt? Even Red says Ohio is worong about this case. All that has happened is that the State is trying to find a way to save face. I'd be more confident of your so called safeguards if they admitted this stunk to high heaven but they wont. The integrity of those applying the ultimate sanction is the issue here, and you darned well either know this, or should.
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Post by Dea on Dec 20, 2007 10:43:15 GMT -6
I figured this is what would happen. Personally, I think he did set the fire and the little girl was killed unintentionally. I'm not surprised that Ohio is releasing him, however, for time served. All that big talk from Kenney about not doing a plea went out the window. But I can't fault that. After 20 years, I'd say anything to get out myself.
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