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Home Kenny Richey The Case Richey case to be argued for second time before 6th Circuit Richey case to be argued for second time before 6th Circuit
Wednesday, 06 September 2006
BY GREG SOWINSKI - Sep. 6, 2006
CINCINNATI - A federal appellate court reconsidering the death penalty conviction against Kenneth Richey has decided it wants to hear from the attorneys in person.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals set a hearing for Jan. 24 to have the case argued in court. It will mark the second time the case has been argued before the court, a rare circumstance, but one that occurred after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 6th Circuit's previous ruling.
Richey is appealing his 1987 conviction in the 1986 fire death of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins at an apartment complex in Columbus Grove. The 6th Circuit previously tossed his conviction and ordered he be retried or released.
The state appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reinstated the conviction but ordered the 6th Circuit to reconsider the case on the claim his attorneys failed to provide adequate representation.
Richey's attorney handling the case today, Kenneth Parsigian, of Boston, said he was disappointed by the amount of time it takes but said having oral arguments does not indicate one way or another what the judges may be thinking.
Parsigian said Richey is frustrated by the delay but will continue to fight through it.
During the first round at the 6th Circuit, the court tossed the conviction by ruling that his sentence under Ohio law at the time was invalid because Richey didn't kill the person he set out to kill, instead killing Cynthia, not his ex-girlfriend.