Four articles from Lima News

?Please, we?re not used to this media attention?

Original article at Lima News:
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=11352

By DIANE PACETTI
419-993-2084
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The city editor appeared in the doorway to my office, a serious look on her face.

?Big news,? she said urgently.
?What?? I asked.
?Kenneth Richey?s conviction and death sentence were overturned.?

So much for a quiet news day.

Tuesday?s ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals changed our plans. Richey is, if not the most widely known death-row inmate in Ohio, then certainly among them.

What happens to him isn?t just news to us. It?s even bigger news overseas because Richey, the son of an American father and British mother, grew up in Scotland and has dual citizen-ship.

Eventually, he ended up in Putnam County, where he was sentenced to death in 1987 for setting an apartment fire in Columbus Grove that killed 2-year-old Cynthia Collins ? ?Scootie? to those who knew her.

Now, all these years later, Ohio?s lengthy appeals process has finally delivered for him. When and if Richey actually goes free depends on what the state does next. Will it attempt to retry Richey or let him go free?

That is the next chapter of this long-running drama.

But first things first.

On Tuesday, our photo editor located a handful of pictures associated with the Richey case. We probably hadn?t looked at them since we?d published an in-depth series on the case in October 1998.

Included were several photos of Kenneth Richey as well as photos of his mother, brother and father. There were photos of evidence, a photo of the apartment building, a photo of a beautiful, happy 2-year-old, and a grainy photo of her mom, taken from a television interview years ago.

Many of the photos were so old, we no longer remembered how they?d come to us.

We also mapped out our story plans, which included reaction on both sides of the Atlantic. In the process of reporting the story, we talked with the toddler?s grandfather and located a telephone number for her mother. The mother, who used to live here, has moved to another state to get away from publicity.

Our old photos and the telephone numbers of family members proved to be of great interest to the British press. One of our reporters received about 15 e-mails and 10 phone calls from the British media. Other members of our staff also received calls and e-mails.

The most popular requests were for photos of the mother and the little girl, and for a phone number for the mother. While we understand their dilemma, we did not provide these things. The mother clearly did not want to talk or be found. (We tried.) The photo of the little girl? To sell that seemed to make her a victim all over again.

We did help our British friends when we could.

On Tuesday, the Scottish Daily Record in Glasgow fed us information for our ?overseas reaction? story. On Friday, we reciprocated by offering them quotes from our Richey interview. We also shared a photo with another British paper and provided contact numbers for public officials.

We declined to have one of our reporters write a story for the Brits, although I?m sure they would have paid handsomely. We just didn?t have the time to do it. We did accommodate another paper when we were asked to take a photo for them.

For the most part, everyone was polite. We were, after all, just doing our jobs.

But I can see how a simple request from one reporter ? no matter how polite ? can begin to seem overwhelming when multiplied by 10 or 20.

In reviewing our 1998 series, I found a reference that told me a little something about the pressure this case has placed on the victim?s mother. It related that a British television station had crashed her Thanksgiving Day celebration the year before.

?Her husband greeted them at the door with threats of fists and bullets,? the story said.

Multiply that, and it?s no wonder Mom moved away.

Richey speaks, wants trial to prove innocence

Original article at Lima News:
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=11307

By GREG SOWINSKI
01.28.2005
419-993-2090
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MANSFIELD ? Two days after learning a court overturned the conviction that put him on Ohio?s death row, Kenneth Richey remains angrier than ever: He wants his day in court to prove his innocence.

?I?m hoping for a new trial. I?m begging for a new trial. There?s no doubt in my mind I?ll be able to prove my innocence,? he said Thursday during a telephone interview from death row. ?I will sell my soul to the devil for a new trial.?

When asked if he could walk out of prison today a free man or wait a year for a trial and risk returning to prison, Richey said he would gladly wait for trial. He said he would sit on death row 10 more years if, in the end, it gives him the chance to prove his innocence while exposing flaws and corruption in the U.S. justice system.

?They?ve done me wrong and it?s time for them to answer,? he said.

Richey was convicted in 1987 by a three-judge panel of setting a fire that killed 2-year-old Cynthia Collins at a Columbus Grove apartment complex in 1986. That conviction was over-turned Tuesday by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found Richey received incompetent counsel at trial and that the state failed to prove Richey had intended to kill Cynthia.

Richey said he doesn?t know how the fire started but surmises it was from a discarded cigarette in the sofa.

The news of the ruling Tuesday came that morning through a telephone call from his Boston attorney, Ken Parsigian, he said.

As it?s done each time he leaves his cell, Richey was shackled then taken to a room with a telephone where he heard Parsigian tell him the news he?s been waiting to hear for nearly 18 years, he said.

Following the ruling, Richey said the state prison system gave him the chance to be moved to protective custody away from death row. Richey decided to stay on death row.

?It?s where I?ve been for the last 18 years. It?s where my buddies are,? he said.

Despite that news, he still has some doubts he?ll someday walk out of prison. Eighteen years in prison will do that to a man, he said.

?I?m sure the state will file an appeal and try to drag it out as long as they can,? he said. ?They?re not done with me.?

He holds out no hope the state will just drop the case. That would be the equivalent of admitting they were wrong, Richey said, and open the gate for a lawsuit, he said.

Richey also said those who are fighting against him, especially those who lost, have egos too big to allow them to admit they were wrong.

But at a new trial, he said he would show the public the poor quality of evidence the state has against him and let the public decide. He also said he would take the witness stand and tell everyone he?s innocent.

?They have no case, period. They didn?t have a case to begin with,? he said.

Richey said he is prepared to return to Putnam County for a trial but would seek a change of venue. He doesn?t believe he could have a fair trial in Putnam County because the community is so close-knit.

He also plans to ask for a jury trial and not a bench trial by judges, who, he said, are political and not fair.

But that day may be months down the road and he knows it. His attorneys have told him to be prepared to wait at least three to six months, he said.

When asked a second time later in the interview if he believes he someday would walk out of prison, he said, ?Eventually I will. They?re not going to win.?

Evidence from Richey trial sits in courthouse attic

Original article at Lima News:
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=11306

By GREG SOWINSKI
01.28.2005
419-993-2090
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OTTAWA ? Stored away in the attic of the Putnam County Courthouse is the evidence used to send Kenneth Richey to Ohio?s death row.

A 6-inch square sample of brown carpet, a burned out fan and some of Richey?s clothing were among the items placed in a cardboard box stored on a table next to six boxes of court records that tell the tale of Richey?s legal battle.

Although they?ve sat in a room packed with other court files for the past 18 years, the boxes, which are labeled ?Richey? and ?CR 86-21? (the criminal case file number) may soon be dusted off and put to use again.

A federal appeals court overturned his conviction earlier this week and ordered him retried or released. The state will appeal that decision, though such appeals are rarely successful.

Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers will be tasked with retrying Richey if the state?s appeal is unsuccessful.

Richey was convicted in 1987 in the death of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins in a 1986 apartment fire in Columbus Grove.

In overturning that conviction, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Richey?s attorneys at trial offered inadequate representation and that prosecutors failed to prove Richey had intended to kill Cynthia.

If there is a retrial, Lammers will have to rely on the preserved evidence found in the boxes, including samples of carpet and wood from the apartment floor and the clothing Richey wore that night.

Also in the evidence room was an unburned sample of the brown carpet, the front of an electrical panel, a small duffel bag and a U.S. Marine Corps book that belonged to Richey. The inside cover of the book has Richey?s name handwritten and his Social Security number.

Many of the items were wrapped in plastic bags.

The fourth-floor of the courthouse, referred to as ?the attic,? is off limits to the public unless escorted by an employee who has an elevator key to gain access.

In the boxes are also the autopsy report and the death certificate that remind everyone what this case is all about, the death of a little girl.

Richey may have to wait more than a year to walk out of prison

Original article at Lima News:
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=11287

By GREG SOWINSKI
01.27.2005
419-993-2090
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OTTAWA ? While winning a federal appeal, a death-row inmate is still a long way from being able to leave prison, according to a legal expert.
Kenneth Richey, convicted of murder in 1987 and sentenced to death by a three-judge panel in Putnam County, will remain on death row while his case plays out in the courts.

The judges found him guilty of setting the 1986 fire at a Columbus Grove apartment complex that killed 2-year-old Cynthia Collins.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction Tuesday, ruling Richey?s legal team offered substandard representation and said the state failed to prove Richey intended to kill Cynthia. The court ordered that Richey be released or retried within 90 days.

Before the 90-day clock starts, however, the state has until Feb. 8 to ask the full 6th Circuit to consider the case. However, such reviews by the full court are rare with some 400 requests made each year and an average of five to 10 cases accepted, a court official said Wednesday.

The next step would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the chances of the court hearing the case are also remote. The nation?s highest court receives about 5,000 requests each year but may only hear 50 to 100 of those, Ohio Northern University Law Professor Victor Streib said. Streib is a national expert on capital punishment.

In the meantime, Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers said he plans to begin preparing for a possible retrial.

First on his list is to look at the evidence from the 1987 trial.

Since the trial, the evidence has been locked in storage in Putnam County. It consists of 12 to 15 boxes containing court records, Clerk of Courts Teresa Lammers said.

The status of the state?s 32 witnesses in the first trial remains another hurdle. Some have died, some have changed their story and some may not be able to be located, Lammers said.

Whether the case actually goes to trial, however, remains to be seen. Lammers must also decide whether to seek the death penalty if the case does go to retrial.

How the case would be handled by the defense must also be determined. In 1987, Richey?s defense team chose to try the case in front of a three-judge panel instead of a jury. That option would be available at a retrial.

State records show nearly 300 death sentences have been handed down in Ohio since the death penalty was reinstated in 1981, but only 201 inmates are on death row. Of those sentenced to die, 16 have had their convictions reversed. Of those 16, 12 were retried or pleaded and the person was sentenced to life in prison, two were retried and resentenced to death, one was retried and given a 10- to 25-year sentence, and in one case prosecutors dismissed the charges and the inmate was freed.

In other cases, inmates have died, some have had their sentences commuted by the governor and some have resentencing hearings pending.

Streib said a retrial can be a tough road to travel for prosecutors,

Richey?s case is nearly 20 years old. At the time of the crime, police agencies were more lax in their procedures, Streib said.

In the Richey case, for example, the carpet pulled from the burning apartment was taken to the dump, then collected by investigators who kept it in the parking lot at the sheriff?s office near a gas pump for three weeks before it was examined.

Also, the question of finding witnesses or getting them to remember what had happened is tough, Streib said.

?You?re not asking someone what happened last week or last month but what happened 20 years ago and in vivid detail,? Streib said.

Prosecutors do have the ability to read previous testimony from a witness, who may have died or couldn?t be located, before the jury. But that often does not go over well since jurors like to see the witness and determine whether they find the person credible, Streib said.

Another possibility, and a legal move that is common, is a prosecutor offering a plea bargain that is both beneficial to the prosecutor, and to the death-row inmate.

How the case plays out though, only time will tell. In the meantime, Richey will remain on death row.

?He?s not going to get out now, but maybe a year from now,? Streib said.