Richey's attorneys to file motions to get him off death row

Boston attorney Ken Parsigian is upset the state has not released Richey, allowing him to be moved to the Putnam County jail while that county's prosecutor decides what to do with the case.

Parsigian sent a letter Wednesday night along with the order from a federal judge saying Richey should be retried or released within 90 days to Warden Margaret Bradshaw of Mans-field Correctional Institution, the prison that houses death row.

State prison spokeswoman Andrea Dean said the prison would not release Richey based on a letter from his attorney. She said Richey will not be released until prison officials have a court order in hand.

Parsigian said the order issued at the beginning of the month by U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan is clear. Ohio law requires Richey's release based on the order that tossed his conviction. The fact the ruling is from a federal court is no different than a state court, he said.

Parsigian plans to file a motion in Richland County Common Pleas Court in Mansfield where the prison is located. He also will file another motion with Gaughan asking her to issue an additional order for Richey's release to the jail.

Richey's conviction for a 1986 apartment fire in Columbus Grove that killed 2-year-old Cynthia Collins was tossed in January by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. That court ruled Richey did not receive adequate representation at trial and that the charge of aggravated murder, as the law read in 1986, did not apply. The court said prosecutors needed to show Richey killed the person he intended to kill in order to be convicted of capital murder.

Without a conviction against Richey he should not be held on death row, Parsigian said.

In the eyes of the law, Richey is innocent until proven guilty and an innocent person is not kept on death row, he said.

Meanwhile, Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers said he would announce Thursday whether he plans to retry the case or allow Richey to be set free. His decision will come on the 19th anniversary of the fatal fire that put Richey on death row.