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Home News Injustice in Ohio Federal appeals court delays Brett Hartmann's execution Federal appeals court delays Brett Hartmann's execution
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to
delay the April execution of a man who says he needs more time to prove he is
innocent of killing a woman who was stabbed more than a hundred times, then had
her hands cut off.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says a
brief reprieve is appropriate to determine whether Brett Hartmann could succeed
with his claim that he did not murder 46-year-old Winda Snipes in
1997.
Hartmann, 34, was scheduled to die by injection April 7.
Documents and legal filings in the case refer to the inmate as Hartman, but he
has said his name is Hartmann.
Hartmann says a jailhouse informant committed perjury at his 1998 trial. He also says untested evidence found at the scene, including a used condom and a strand of hair, could exonerate him.
Hartmann's lawyers also say prosecutors have overlooked
Snipes' ex-boyfriend as a possible suspect.
A three-judge panel of
the appeals court granted the delay while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether
prisoners have a constitutional right to test DNA evidence in their cases. A
decision is expected this spring.
The court's decision could give Hartmann access to the crime scene evidence he wants tested, the three-judge panel said in Tuesday's ruling. The panel said that evidence may be valuable because of the allegations regarding the ex-boyfriend.
"In light of
the uncertainty surrounding Hartman's case, we will grant a temporary stay of
execution to allow sufficient time for us to reassess all of the evidence," the
panel said.
Ohio' attorney general, who can appeal the ruling, is
reviewing the decision, said spokeswoman Holly Hollingsworth.
Hartmann got the word as he was visiting with his family, said
defense attorney David Stebbins.
Tuesday's ruling "gives us an
opportunity to resolve once and for all the lingering questions about his guilt
or innocence," Stebbins said.
Summit County Prosecutor Sherri
Bevan Walsh has called Hartmann's perjury claim speculative and says there's no
proof that testing new evidence would exonerate him.
The U.S.
Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this month about prisoners' constitutional
rights to DNA testing.
The issue arose in the case of William
Osborne, who was convicted in a brutal attack on a prostitute in Alaska 16 years
ago. He won a federal appeals court ruling granting him access to a blue condom
that was used during the attack. Testing its contents would firmly establish his
innocence or guilt, says Osborne, who has admitted his guilt in a bid for
parole.