PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The 6th Circuit panel wrote that the evidence Keith presented calls into question the validity of the case against him. It also said prosecutors suppressed the evidence. The panel’s first impression is that no reasonable jury would find him guilty of the crime and that the new evidence warrants a fresh look."
SECOND PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Keith’s previous challenges to his case were unsuccessful. He argues that prosecutors withheld information about now-retired BCI forensic scientist G. Michele Yezzo, who testified at Keith trial’s about license plate impressions and tire tracks that authorities said linked Keith to the killings. Specifically, Keith says several BCI memos from 1989 to 1994 reveal "significant concerns about Yezzo’s mental state and professional integrity,” the 6th Circuit explained. This included a May 1989 report from an assistant BCI superintendent saying there was a consensus that Yezzo “suffers a severe mental imbalance and needs immediate assistance,” the opinion says. Yezzo was placed on leave in August 1993 after threatening to kill co-workers and had a history of making racist outbursts, the court wrote. “In fact, Yezzo was still under investigation when she testified against Keith,” the order says, adding that “Keith was unable to use any of this evidence to impeach Yezzo’s credibility and contest her forensic analysis that linked Keith to the scene of the crime.” The appeals court also said Keith presented evidence that showed Bucyrus police might have ignored his subpoena for police call logs. Specifically, he obtained the police department’s copy, and the words “ignore for now” are written and underlined towards the top of the subpoena. That evidence was at the core of the prosecutors’ case, as investigators said they first heard Keith’s name from a nurse who called police and said Warren identified Keith as the shooter. The call logs, however, do not show any calls from nurses who treated Warren, the court wrote. Cleveland attorney Jim Wooley said he’s happy Keith will have his day in court. He said his client “went from sitting on his couch to death row” in a little more than 90 days, and that the jury never heard all the information Keith now has. “I believe with every fiber of my being that he’s an innocent man,” Wooley, a former federal prosecutor, said.
STORY: "Former Ohio death-row inmate will get chance to challenge murder convictions," by reporter Eric Heisig, published by Cleveland.com on October 29, 2018.
GIST: A federal appeals court is allowing a former death-row inmate convicted of murdering three people in Bucyrus to mount another challenge to his case. A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Kevin Keith may present evidence that prosecutors withheld information that would challenge the credibility of a Bureau of Criminal Investigation forensic scientist who testified at his trial. Keith can also argue that police in Bucyrus, about 105 miles southwest of Cleveland, intentionally did not respond to a subpoena for call logs before his trial, the panel ruled. Keith, 54, was convicted in 1994 of shooting and killing Marichell Chatman, her 4-year-old daughter Marchae, and Marichell’s aunt Linda Chatman, inside a Bucyrus Estates apartment. Marichell’s boyfriend Richard Warren and Marichell’s young cousins Quanita and Quinton Reeves were shot but survived. The 6th Circuit panel wrote that the evidence Keith presented calls into question the validity of the case against him. It also said prosecutors suppressed the evidence. The panel’s first impression is that no reasonable jury would find him guilty of the crime and that the new evidence warrants a fresh look. (You can read the full order here or at the bottom of this story.) Keith’s case will now be sent to U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver in Cleveland, who will rule on whether he should overturn the convictions and grant Keith a new trial. Keith was a suspect in part because he was caught in a drug raid where a member of the victims' family was an informant. He also fit the general description that witnesses provided, and Warren testified that Keith was the gunman. A judge sentenced Keith to death. Then-Gov. Ted Strickland commuted his sentence to life prison in 2010, 13 days before he was to be executed, because of questions raised about the way his trial was conducted. He is serving his time in the Marion Correctional Institution. Keith’s previous challenges to his case were unsuccessful. He argues that prosecutors withheld information about now-retired BCI forensic scientist G. Michele Yezzo, who testified at Keith trial’s about license plate impressions and tire tracks that authorities said linked Keith to the killings. Specifically, Keith says several BCI memos from 1989 to 1994 reveal "significant concerns about Yezzo’s mental state and professional integrity,” the 6th Circuit explained. This included a May 1989 report from an assistant BCI superintendent saying there was a consensus that Yezzo “suffers a severe mental imbalance and needs immediate assistance,” the opinion says. Yezzo was placed on leave in August 1993 after threatening to kill co-workers and had a history of making racist outbursts, the court wrote. “In fact, Yezzo was still under investigation when she testified against Keith,” the order says, adding that “Keith was unable to use any of this evidence to impeach Yezzo’s credibility and contest her forensic analysis that linked Keith to the scene of the crime.” The appeals court also said Keith presented evidence that showed Bucyrus police might have ignored his subpoena for police call logs. Specifically, he obtained the police department’s copy, and the words “ignore for now” are written and underlined towards the top of the subpoena. That evidence was at the core of the prosecutors’ case, as investigators said they first heard Keith’s name from a nurse who called police and said Warren identified Keith as the shooter. The call logs, however, do not show any calls from nurses who treated Warren, the court wrote. Cleveland attorney Jim Wooley said he’s happy Keith will have his day in court. He said his client “went from sitting on his couch to death row” in a little more than 90 days, and that the jury never heard all the information Keith now has. “I believe with every fiber of my being that he’s an innocent man,” Wooley, a former federal prosecutor, said. Crawford County Prosecutor Matthew Crall noted that the court has not said whether Keith’s claims are true. He believes they are not. Crall said to disturb Keith’s convictions would be inappropriate, as that would to discount the testimony believed by a jury. This is at least the second time Yezzo’s conduct has caused problem for a murder case. A retired Cuyahoga County judge threw out the 23-year-old murder conviction of a dying man in April 2016 and ordered a new trial after ruling that Huron County prosecutors withheld evidence of Yezzo’s on-the-job issues. The defendant, James Parsons, passed away in February 2017 at age 79."
The entire story can be read at:
//www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2018/10/former-ohio-death-row-inmate-will-get-chance-to-challenge-murder-convictions.html
