Possible New Developments in Richey Death Row Case

Alistair Carmichael MP told The Universe: "I think there is a small widow of opportunity with the departure from office of Governor Taft which might allow a political process to short circuit the legal process. That is what I am trying to achieve at the moment.

"The Catholic Church has done a lot of good work even locally in Ohio about the death penalty, and I would ask them to exert as much pressure as they could on Governor Taft before he leaves office.

"I am hopeful that the governor might listen to what we have to say about the flaws in the process that has put Kenny on death row and that he might, as a departing act, recognise that and grant him clemency."

Kenny Richey, 42, who grew up in Edinburgh, was sentenced to death in 1987 after being convicted of murdering two-year-old Cynthia Collins by setting fire to her mother's apartment in Ohio.

Mr Carmichael explained that as a former lawyer and prosecutor, the more he found out about Richey's case, the more "incensed" he became "at the unfairness of the treatment he had received and then the enormity of the realisation that after this incredibly unfair process, they were going to kill him."

Mr Carmichael continued: "Kenny's case was basically not properly put forward at trial. There was a multiplicity of flaws in the representation. The fact that his case was not even put in front of a jury was a pretty basic flaw in my view.

"I would hope that the governor would ideally recognise the fact that Kenny in fact has never had a fair trial and that he has been in prison for almost 20 years and that he should be pardoned and released. At the very least I would want the governor to commute the death sentence."

Jeremy Rose, a constituency assistant in Governor Taft's Office in Ohio told The Universe: "The Governor is in the process of considering clemency for Kenny Richey.

"He considers each case separately and listens to the opinion of the parole boards."