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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2005 2:21:57 GMT -6
Fri 22 Apr 2005
2:50am (UK)
Supreme Court Appeal over Death Row Briton
By Paul O’Hare and Victoria Ward, PA
US prosecutors will bring the case of death row Scot Kenny Richey before the Supreme Court in a final bid to quash the decision to overturn his conviction, it emerged today.
Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro has filed a stay with the 6th Circuit Court of Criminal Appeals to take the controversial case to the highest court in the land.
Richey, who has been facing execution for 18 years, was told earlier this week that the court had denied the state’s request to rehear the appeal, meaning he had to be retried within 90 days or set free.
The 40-year-old was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing a two-year-old girl in an arson attack in 1986.
But Mr Petro’s move to seek a stay of the impending mandate essentially stops the clock ticking on the 90-day deadline, ensuring Richey cannot be released.
Kim Norris, Mr Petro’s spokeswoman, said reports that Richey would be moved off death row today were “absolutely not correct”.
She added: “He is not being set free. We are going to appeal to the US Supreme Court.”<br>
Independent MSP Margo MacDonald condemned the state’s decision.
It came just hours after she was told by Ken Parsigian, Richey’s lawyer, that the Scot was expected to be taken off death row on Friday.
The Lothains MSP said: “Ohio, for whatever reason, seem to have a very punitive attitude towards him (Richey) because they lost the appeal 12-0 (judges).
“It is hard to believe that the Supreme Court would overrule such a decisive verdict by the state.”<br>
Asked if she remained optimistic Richey would be freed, Ms MacDonald replied: “Everybody is too scared to be confident as Kenny has spent too long in jail for a crime that he did not commit.
“We must tiptoe through the process, one legal step at a time.”<br>
The only option left to Ohio prosecutors to contest the January appeal ruling was to file a petition to the US Supreme Court.
Announcing his decision to do so, Mr Petro said: “We believe the evidence supports the just conviction of Kenneth Richey.
“Ohio courts have reviewed this case and found the evidence supports that Richey set the fire intending to kill his girlfriend, but ended up killing two-year old Cynthia Collins.”<br>
One of Richey’s Boston-based lawyers, Daryl Wiesen, admitted he was disappointed but not surprised by the announcement and confirmed he would be filing an opposition to the motion as soon as possible.
“We do not think it’s an appropriate move,” he said.
“There are no issues worthy of review by the US Supreme Court in this case.”<br>
British MPs and leading human rights campaigners have fought on Richey’s behalf for years, pleading a “compelling” case of innocence.
He has also won support from the European Parliament, a host of celebrities and the late Pope John Paul II.
Richey, who grew up near Edinburgh Castle, went to Ohio in the 1980s to stay with his father.
On the evening of June 29, 1986, he had been at a party, celebrating the fact that he was about to return home and take up a job as a nightclub doorman.
Richey got drunk and stumbled off. Some time later a fire broke out at a nearby apartment block.
Two-year-old Cynthia was trapped in her bedroom and died from smoke inhalation.
Richey was arrested and convicted of using petrol and paint thinner to start the fire.
The court was told that Richey started the fire out of jealousy in an attempt to kill a former girlfriend, who was asleep with her new boyfriend in the apartment below the one that burned.
During the three-day trial, Richey twice rejected plea-bargain deals which would have spared his life if he had admitted starting the fire.
In 1997 two witnesses who had claimed that Richey previously threatened to burn down the apartment retracted their statements.
Recent forensic evidence cast doubt on whether the fire was started deliberately at all.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2005 2:26:54 GMT -6
THURSDAY 21/04/2005 17:37:37 Briton 'to be moved off death row' A British man who has been facing execution in the US for 18 years is expected to be moved off death row tomorrow, it was claimed tonight. Kenny Richey was told earlier this week that an Appeal Court decision to quash his conviction cannot be overturned. The ruling means he must now be retried within 90 days or set free. But independent MSP Margo MacDonald, who has long campaigned to secure Richey`s release, said the Scot would move a step closer to freedom tomorrow. Ms MacDonald said: "I spoke to Kenny`s lawyer, Ken Parsigian, this morning and he is expecting Kenny to be moved off death row on Friday." In January Ohio prosecutors challenged the decision of a three-judge panel to overturn the Scot`s conviction. But on Monday the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied the state`s request to rehear the appeal. Richey, 40, was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing a two-year-old girl in an arson attack in 1986. British MPs and leading human rights campaigners have fought on his behalf for years, pleading a "compelling" case of innocence. The controversial case has also won support from the European Parliament, a host of celebrities and the late Pope John Paul II. u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=59346&pt=n |
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