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Wednesday, 06 August 2008
A man who has been on death row nearly 23 years received ineffective legal counsel in the sentencing phase of his trial, a federal appeals court panel has ruled.
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The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Monday ordered Robert Van Hook's death sentence thrown out unless the state conducts a new penalty phase within 180 days.
Van Hook, 48, was convicted of murdering a man he met in a gay bar. He never denied strangling and stabbing David Self in Self's apartment in Cincinnati in 1985, but claimed temporary insanity.
"We think it is the correct decision under the circumstances, and we think there is even more evidence than they discussed that will support their decision," Keith Yeazel, the Columbus attorney who has represented Van Hook in his federal appeals, said.
Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio attorney general's office, said prosecutors could decide how to proceed in about two weeks.