New date for death row Scot’s release hearing

Richey, who has spent more than 20 years awaiting execution in Ohio, had an original hearing date of December 20, but this was postponed after he fell ill with chest pain. A new date of January 8 was scheduled by the Putnam county district court prosecutor Gary Lammers, but this was brought forward a day at the request of Richey's lawyer, Ken Parsigian.

Richey, whose conviction was overturned after the appeals court ruled he did not receive adequate legal representation at his first trial, will plead no contest to attempted involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but a statement that no defence will be presented. He is expected to be released on time served.

As part of the plea, Richey will have to return to the UK within 24 hours of release, which means he is likely to arrive on Wednesday, January 9.

It is not yet known whether Richey will be released from Putnam county district court, or if visiting judge Alan Travis will order him to be sent back to prison to be released. Lammers is reported to have said Richey should be returned to prison, where his time will be tallied, as per standard procedure, and then released.

Richey has always protested his innocence, but because he took a plea and was not exonerated, he is not eligible for compensation. Under the laws of the state of Ohio, a wrongfully convicted person can receive $40,330 (£20,000) per year (or an amount determined by the state auditor), in addition to lost wages, costs and lawyers' fees, as long as the claimant did not plead guilty.

Ken Parsigian told the Sunday Herald that Richey "would not have a good suit to collect millions of dollars".

"There is a statute that allows a wrongfully convicted person to sue the state and collect, but the standard is very, very high, and the amount you can recover is limited," he said. "It is not enough to show that the government's case was wrong. We would have to prove that he was innocent, and that the prosecutors knew or should have known that.

"The deal Kenny was offered was a complete capitulation by the state. They dropped murder and arson, which is what this fight has always been about."

Parsigian added: "In short, he is pleading no contest to failure to babysit and giving up the right to bring a suit he almost certainly couldn't win. Once they gave in that much, there really wasn't anything left to fight about."

Richey will arrive in the UK penniless, homeless and jobless. His mother Eileen has indicated her son would like to "help other people who have suffered miscarriages of justice".

Reprieve, the anti-death penalty campaign group, has said it will be on hand to offer support and assistance. Spokesman Marc Callcutt said it had already contacted Edinburgh city council to ask for practical help with housing and benefits for Richey.

Callcutt added: "We are planning to talk to various government departments about providing him with help, and we haven't heard any indication that people are unwilling to provide assistance. We are hopeful he will get local governmental help with things like housing and benefits.

"It's a difficult time of year for Kenny to return, in terms of trying to get these practical arrangements together, because of the holidays."

He continued: "It's important to first find Kenny somewhere to stay. He will be with his mum to start with, but after that we will have to find him somewhere to live and then start getting money in.

"Most people who are released from prison in this country have help from probation services, and there's a lot of social services that can help. But with Kenny everything is going to be from scratch, so it's up to us help him deal with that."

He went on to say: "The good thing is that Kenny has a lot of supporters and friends and family to come back to. But we're not kidding ourselves, we know this is going to be very difficult."

A spokesman for Edinburgh city council said it would not comment on individual cases.

Ian Stephen, a forensic psychologist with more than 38 years' experience with prisoners and victims of miscarriages of justice, said Richey would probably suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his release and his return to Scotland.

"He's lived with more than 20 years of stress," Stephen said. "People can often survive in prison because of the adrenaline pumping. It's usually afterwards that it hits them; they freak out when they realise what's happened to them.

"The reality is that you can't ever reverse the psychological damage. Post- traumatic stress is rampant with them. They'll always feel angry, but there are ways to cope with the outside world."

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)