Death-Row Inmate Who Maintained His Innocence to Be Freed in Plea Deal
A man who spent 20 years on Ohio’s death row before a federal appeals court overturned his sentence has agreed to a plea deal that will result in his release.
Kenneth Richey had been convicted of a setting a fire that killed a 2-year-old girl, but the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the sentence because of ineffective assistance of counsel, the Associated Press reports. He will return to his native Scotland.
The 6th Circuit criticized the defense asserted by trial counsel—that someone else intentionally set the fire—saying it made Richey “a sitting duck.” Instead, trial counsel should have pursued evidence to contest an expert witness who used nonscientific methods to conclude the fire was the result of arson, the court said in its ruling (PDF).
The court also noted the testimony of witnesses who said Richey tried to enter the apartment to save the child when he saw that it was on fire. Richey has maintained his innocence.
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