Options reviewed to retry fire case

Article published Thursday, June 23, 2005

That same day, Kenny Richey will find out whether the state will retry him or set him free. He was sentenced to death after a three-judge panel determined he set the fire that killed Cynthia on June 30, 1986.

Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers, who will make the decision, met yesterday in his Ottawa, Ohio, office with officials from the state attorney general's office, local investigators familiar with the case, and Ohio Fire Marshal officials to glean information that will help him decide.

Mr. Lammers, in office six months, said he will spend the next week interviewing potential witnesses and researching case documents before releasing a statement next Thursday. That statement, he said, "likely will give a clear indication if we're going to [retry him]."

Should Mr. Lammers opt to pass on returning Richey to court, he could sign documents that would lead to Richey's release in about a week, according to Andrea Dean, an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesman.

"Once we receive the paperwork, we would start the process," Ms. Dean said.

Typically, according to Ms. Dean, it takes two to four working days to receive the paperwork and 24 hours for the prison system to complete its process before releasing an inmate.

If Mr. Lammers decides to retry Richey, he faces a significant obstacle, said Richey's Boston-based attorney, Ken Parsigian.

After a U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned Richey's conviction earlier this year because of serious issues the court had with the state's case, it was upheld by another court on June 1, giving the state 90 days in which to retry Richey.

Kim Norris, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the state merely has to begin the trial process to meet the court's 90-day requirement.

Not true, Mr. Parsigian contends. "There is no case - none - that says an order that reverses all convictions and orders that the state release or try the prisoner within 90 days means that they can simply decide within 90 days," he said.

Said Ms. Norris: "If there's a dispute, it will be resolved by the courts."

She said her office will proceed with filing a U.S. Supreme Court appeal by the July 14 deadline in an attempt to have the Circuit Court ruling overturned. The Supreme Court is in recess and doesn't convene until October.

Should the high court decide to hear the Richey case and overturn the Circuit Court decision, an unusual scenario in which Richey could be released from prison and then ordered to return could ensue.

Mr. Parsigian said the odds of that happening are remote.

For now, the spotlight is on Mr. Lammers. He is the same age as Richey - 41 - and was in college at the time of the incident, which gained little attention outside Putnam County at the time.

Since then, the case has become widely known across this country and elsewhere, particularly in Great Britain, where Richey's Scottish mother lives along with his fianc, Karen Torley Richey.

Ms. Richey, who changed her name to gain visitation rights to the Mansfield, Ohio, prison where Richey is held, began the campaign to free him in the mid-1990s. Shortly after, Mr. Parsigian's firm, Goodwin Proctor, signed on.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been involved, as has the Vatican. Documentaries have been made. Richey's brother, Tom Richey, in prison in Washington state, has written a soon-to-be-released book. The family has hired one of London's top public relations executives to field offers from newspapers that will pay for the story of Richey's release.

Mr. Lammers said he will not be intimidated by all the fuss.

"It's pretty amazing that it has as far-reaching [an impact] that it apparently has. But I'm not going to get mixed up in that. I'm going to interview witnesses and look at the scientific evidence to make my best call in this case. Whether it's an international story or petty theft, all cases are important to those who they affect," he said.

Ms. Torley said she's glad it's Mr. Lammers who will decide.

"He isn't being told he is wrong because he was not involved in the case," she said. "That's a good thing. This is a very important day for all of us, and I have a good feeling about the outcome."

Contact George Tanber at:
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