I'm begging for a retrial, says defiant Richey

http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/mags/post/news4.htm

After spending 18 years on Death Row - maintaining his innocence every step of the way - Kenny Richey isn't about to compromise now.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Post, he vowed to reject any offer from the Ohio state authorities that he accept some lesser charge in exchange for immediate release.

Ruling

The ruling last week by the Sixth US Court of Appeal that overturned his conviction and death sentence for the murder of two-year-old Cynthia Collins in Columbus Grove, Ohio, in 1986 has sparked suggestions of deals being made. He is having none of it.

"No way. I've been in here for 18 years for something I didn't do and I am not about to admit to anything I'm not guilty of," he told me in a phone call from Death Row.

"They have 90 days to retry me or release me and that is fine by me. I would love to be retried, I'm begging for a retrial.

"I am expecting them to appeal this decision and if it comes it comes. I am not worrying about it. All they can do is prolong it as long as possible."

Upbeat

This was an upbeat and confident Kenny Richey, far removed from the depressed and angry individual I interviewed on Death Row just six months ago.

In Mansfield Correctional Institute that hot summer afternoon he was desperately sick of his stay there and wanted it over one way or the other.

"I want them to kill me," he had told me. "Kill me or release me. I don't really care which. I just want an end to it." His desperate plea made TV and newspaper headlines around the world.

Here was a man still raging against the system. The flames of his injustice had not been dampened by 18 years inside.

Yes, he'd been beaten up by his imprisonment but not beaten. His health had taken a battering but his spirit - fuelled by anger - remained strong.

Even in his seemingly resigned demand for the authorities to "kill me or release me", he roared his defiance. One way or another, he wasn't going to go quietly.

Retrial

He still isn't. If, as expected, the authorities in Ohio seek to save face by first appealing the decision then by trying to persuade Richey to admit a lesser charge such as fire-raising, he will not cave in. He would welcome a retrial but doesn't believe there will be one.

"They won't go for a retrial because they have nothing," he told me. "They don't have the evidence and they don't have the witnesses. All the evidence supports my innocence."

A spokesman for Ohio attorney general Jim Petro continued to claim the verdict against  Richey was "justified by the evidence". However the spokesman's assertion last week that "At least three people heard Ken Richey threaten to burn down the building" will be hard, if not impossible, to prove.

Two of the three witnesses that the state still cling to have since retracted their statements and the third can't be found. It is hard to see how Ohio will allow a retrial in which they would have no obvious chance of securing a conviction.

Cautious

Although confident, Richey is wary of getting too far ahead of himself.

"I am so happy about the decision but I'm still being a bit cautious. I will wait until I am actually walking through that door before I am joyous. The whole thing hasn't really sunk in yet, I'm still in a bit of a daze."

But a few thoughts have crept past his guard. He longs to return to Scotland - "I want to get back there and have a pint, maybe even run a pub."

He is desperate to see his son Sean and is delighted that the 19-year-old has said he wants to meet him.

"I'm over the moon about that. I have missed him like crazy these 18 years and thought about him so much.

"I hear I've become a grandad too and it would be something special if he could bring my grand-daughter Taliyah along as well."

Support

But top of his list is Karen Richey, the woman he considers his wife but whom he hasn't even touched.

"Karen kept the whole thing going, kept it all together. The support I've had has been tremendous but without her it would have fallen apart. I owe her everything."

He admits that life on the outside would come as a shock after so many years on Death Row but it's a challenge he welcomes.

"I've no idea how I'll cope with the transition to life outside of here if everything goes to plan.

"It's not something I've seriously thought about up until now.

"All I know is that it won't be easy. I'm hoping my family will rally round and help me adjust."