| New Trial For Death Row Scot Kenny Richey
29.08.07
The UK legal Charity Reprieve, which fights for prisoners on death row, welcomes a decision by Ohio prosecutors to not appeal the recent Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn Scot Kenny Richey’s death sentence.
On 10th August Kenny Richey, who has been on Ohio’s death row for more than 20 years, had his conviction overturned on appeal by the United States Court of Appeal for the Sixth Circuit on the grounds that Mr Richey received inadequate legal representation during his trial in 1997. The court ordered that Mr Richey should be retried or released within 90 days. The prosecution have just announced that they will re-try Mr Richey in the next 90 days.
Mr Richey was convicted of starting a fire in which a two year old girl died, and was sentenced to death in January 1987. He always protested his innocence, and compelling new scientific evidence completely undermines the prosecution’s case that the fire was deliberately started.
Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve’s Legal Director, who has assisted with Mr. Richey’s case for almost two decades, said:
“This is great news, though it has been a long time coming for Kenny. Once the prosecution sit down and start to prepare their case for trial, they will realize that they don’t have one. The only decent thing to do here is drop the charges and send Kenny home to Scotland. Now is the time for the UK government to do everything in its power to make that happen.”
US law firm Goodwin Procter represented Kenny before the Sixth Circuit and has represented him pro bono for nearly 15 years in an effort to right this glaring injustice. Kenneth Parsigian, partner at Goodwin Procter, said:
“We welcome this news. Kenny has always wanted a chance to prove his innocence and a new trial will give it to him. This time, though, he will have quality representation and the prosecution will face huge problems, not least the fact that we have decimated their “scientific” case that the fire was arson. We have already been preparing for retrial, and we will be ready to bring a final end to this 21-year miscarriage of justice.”
ENDS
Reprieve media contact:
Please contact the Reprieve Press office on: 020 7131 3609
Alternatively, contact Marc Callcutt, Programmes Officer, Reprieve on 020 7427 1089
Ken Parsigian, Partner, Goodwin Procter and Daryl Wiesen, Partner Goodwin Procter can be contacted on +1 (617) 570-1683 |
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