Could you help Kenny?

You can send a US money order only directly to Kenny. No other method is accepted by the prison.
You can purchase US money orders from American Express shops.
They are the only outlet which sells them in UK.  They cost £5 plus whatever is being sent.

Make the money order out to: Kenneth T Richey A194 764
In the senders name part put your own name and address.

And then send DIRECTLY  to:

Writing Campaign

Please use this information to contact the Attorney General of Ohio & Governor Of Ohio.
Below is a template letter one can use to ease this writing campaign.

Thanks in advance to all who contribute.

"This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it!"  (it seems they have deactivated this mail - if any of you have an alternative, contact us)

Update:
Governor Strickland can be reached via a form on their homepage

http://www.ag.state.oh.us/cidwebapp/cidweb2.asp
Attorney General, Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Dann.

http://www.ag.state.oh.us/contact/inquiry.asp
You have to visit this site and use the form on the site.

Template:

Dear

We are writing to you to express our deep concern about Kenneth T Richey, #194764, who is on Ohio's death row. He was sentenced to death for the June 30, 1986 murder of Cynthia Collins. The terrible tragedy of Cynthia's death cannot be undone by executing Mr Richey, especially because it seems evident that it was an accident, not an arson.

In fact ALL scientific evidence shows that there was no arson. There was an accidental fire. No arson means no murder and no justice.

For 19 years Mr Richey has been on death row, waiting for justice, and it looks like the wait will continue. Mr Richey's conviction was over turned on 25th January 2005. The 6th Circuit court of appeals said that Mr Richey was rendered a "sitting duck" due to the ineffectiveness of his original attorneys.  

The opinion also stated:

"In a case anchored by scientific evidence, the failure to subject this evidence to meaningful adversarial testing was woefully deficient."

"..... we believe that given the context here - where the defendant had a single expert witness who conducted no independent analysis and then became the witness for the other side without any cross-examination - there was a massive failure by trial counsel in his handling of the expert witness."

"The record indicates that a competent arson expert - fully informed and supervised, and using the methods available to him at the time of trial - would have all but demolished the State's scientific evidence, and with it a large part of the case against Richey."

"We find that counsel’s incompetent handling of the sole forensic expert in this case fell far below the wide range of acceptable professional standards, and that absent counsel’s grave mistakes, there is a reasonable probability that the three-judge panel would have at least had a reasonable doubt as to whether Richey set the fire that ultimately caused the death of Cynthia Collins."

One of the issues in the appeal concerned the 3 judges who presided over his trial in January 1987, and the fact that they sentenced him to death, mostly on the unsupported basis that they believed he had ripped down the smoke detector from the Collins apartment prior to the fire. There was absolutely no physical evidence whatsoever that could have substantiated their claim, but Judge Michael J Corrigan and the other two judges used this erroneous conclusion as an aggravating circumstance in wrongfully sentencing Mr Richey to death. However,Judge Patricia Gaughan conceded that Kenny did not do this. But then for some reason we don't understand, Judge Patricia A Gaughan (from Federal court)  ruled that the two issues that were not procedurally defaulted were "harmless" errors committed by the court. Judge Gaughan also admitted that, "Richey's experts certainly undermine the State's Arson Evidence," but denied his appeal anyway, as if the fact that the state introduced false and unreliable evidence during trial is not serious.

The smoke alarm being down was the SOLE reason Kenny recieved the death penalty.

On 28th November 05 the US supreme court denied Kenny's case, not on the grounds of his case or innocence but rather on the grounds of courts arguing with one another. They overturned the 6th circuit decision. Kenny is back in the same hellish postition he was before,

Mr Richey will now have to wait for about a year and a half at least until this goes through the 6th circuit court AGAIN

A few years ago the prosecutor Daniel Gershultz offered him a deal: he would have Mr Richey transferred to a Scottish prison immediately, and if the Scottish authorities chose to release him the very same day he arrived there, the State of Ohio would agree to it. Had Mr Richey accepted this offer, he would very probably be free today. He didn't accept it, however, because simply being free is not enough. Mr Richey knows he is innocent that's why he seeks complete exoneration and justice.

We are not asking for clemency either, we are asking that the State of Ohio stops opposing a new and fair trial for Mr Richey. Justice can only be served with a new trial and only a new trial. Mr Richey does not fear a new trial. He welcomes it.

Sincerely,

(Full name and address, including country - here)

Please pass this onto anybody you know who would be willing to take the time to write to these two people.

Do you want to do even more?

Help Kenny by writing the following government officials:

Governor of Ohio
Bob Taft
77, South High Street
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
Columbus, OHIO
4366-0601
U.S.A.

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Attorney General
Jim Petro
State Office Tower
30 East Broad Street
Columbus, OHIO
43215-3428
U.S.A.

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President Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington D C
20500
U.S.A.

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Embassy of the United States of America
24 Grosvernor Square
London W1A 1AE

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Foreign Office Minister
Margaret Beckett
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH

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Prime Minister
Tony Blair
10 Downing Street
London

Also Write to religious leaders, Members of Parliament and Members of European Parliament, urging that they petition the US authorities for a re-trial.

Use the template above.

Kenny appreciates any help and support he gets.
Thank you so much.