Death Row Briton Awaits Crucial Announcement

Edinburgh-born Kenny Richey was sentenced to death for the killing of a two-year-old child in an Ohio fire on June 30, 1986.

His conviction was overturned in April by a federal appeals court, offering a glimmer of hope that he would finally be free to return home.

Prosecutors were given 90 days either to release Richey or to retry him. The Scot's fate now rests solely in the hands of Putnam County prosecutor Gary Lammers.

Mr Lammers has confirmed he will announce his decision late afternoon tomorrow.

Richey's lawyer, Ken Parsigian, said he was "cautiously optimistic" his client would be released.

"There are a lot of factors to consider but it's an extremely weak case," he said. "They have lost two of their key witnesses, we destroyed their evidence and the guy's already spent 19 years in jail."

Mr Lammers has been researching case documents and interviewing potential witnesses since meeting with representatives from the office of Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro last week.

Although Richey can no longer be charged under the death penalty, the prosecutor has said new charges could still be brought and stressed that there were alternatives.

The state has until July 14 to appeal against the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Richey had incompetent legal counsel at his original trial.

If Mr Lammers does not retry the case, Richey could be released within a week, but may be barred from returning to Scotland pending a decision from the Supreme Court.

Mr Parsigian believes that either way, the state will keep him in jail until the expiration of the 90-day deadline on September 1.

"No one likes admitting they were wrong," he said.

"They have him and they will want to keep him, it's no more fanciful than that."

He is trying to get Richey transferred from state custody into a county-run jail on the basis that he no longer qualifies as a death row prisoner.

Richey's fiancee, Karen Torley, said she was optimistic the case would not be retried, but said that at this stage, even a retrial would be some sort of victory.

"The ongoing campaign has always been to get a retrial so the truth could be heard and I've no doubt that if Kenny is retried his name will be cleared," she said.

"There is no way they can win."

She added: "It's all been dragged out so long that the last six months have actually been the hardest of the entire campaign.

"There have been so many appeals, it's been a terrible strain and is completely out of our hands. All we can do is hang about waiting to hear."

Asked how Kenny felt at the prospect of a retrial, she laughed and quoted him as saying: "Well, good luck to them!"

Richey was convicted and sentenced to death for the arson death of two-year-old Cynthia Collins on June 30, 1986.

Prosecutors claimed he started the fire at a house in Putnam County to kill Collins's mother - Richey's former girlfriend.

Richey has always protested his innocence.