William Montgomery OH DR Granted New Trial in 2 1986 Murders

[Jeff1857]

In a 6th Circuit Opinion issued today, the 6th Circuit upheld a fed judge decision to overturn the conviction of Montgomery.

Facts of the Crime:

On 3/8/86, Montgomery murdered 20-year-old Debra Ogle and 19-year-old Cynthia Tincher. Ms. Ogle and Ms. Tincher were roommates who knew Montgomery. Montgomery asked Ms. Ogle for a ride in her car, took her to a wooded area and shot her three times, point-blank, in the forehead. Montgomery returned to Ms. Ogle's apartment in her car, left with Ms. Tincher in Ms. Tincher's car, had her pull over to the side of the road and shot her at close range. Montgomery received a death sentence for the aggravated murder of Ms. Ogle.

Opinion is here:

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/09a0348p-06.pdf

[Jeff1857]

More than two years after convicted killer William T. Montgomery was first granted a new trial, a federal appellate court affirmed yesterday that a police report kept from the defense during his 1986 trial could have changed the outcome of the case.

In a 2-1 decision released yesterday, judges of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld the 2007 decision by Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr., of Cleveland to grant a new trial.

In addition, they affirmed the judge's subsequent ruling not to reconsider his decision.

Montgomery, 43, was convicted of the murders of two South Toledo roommates.

He was sentenced to death for the aggravated murder and aggravated robbery of Debra Ogle, 20, and to prison for the murder of Cynthia Tincher, 19.

In its decision, the majority of the appellate court agreed with Judge Oliver's assessment that a report withheld from Montgomery's defense team during his trial was "material" to the case and so could have been used by "even one juror."
The decision can be appealed to either the full appellate court or to the U.S. Supreme Court. Montgomery remains incarcerated on death row.


Prosecutor Julia Bates said the decision on how to proceed rests with the Ohio attorney general but noted that the case potentially could return to Lucas County.

"We'll be back in the trial posture to retry the case, and of course, that's what we'll do" if any future appeals fail, she said. "It's unfortunate because the document that caused all this … will not even be admitted. There will be no evidence that will be introduced that wasn't a part of the original trial.

"That's troubling but we'll do what we have to do," she said.

The decades-old police report in question stated that Ms. Ogle was seen alive four days after March 8, 1986, the day prosecutors said she died. The witnesses who were involved in that report have since written an affidavit claiming a mistake and that they had seen the victim's sister.

In their opinion, judges Gilbert Merritt and Eric Clay wrote that had the jury heard testimony from those witnesses who said they had seen Ms. Ogle alive days after prosecutors said she had been killed, "it may have raised enough doubt in the mind of one juror to sway that juror, even if he or she had voted to convict Montgomery of the murders, to reject the death penalty."

"If even one juror had rejected imposition of the death sentence, a life sentence would have been imposed," the opinion stated. "The fact that there may have existed even one juror with a doubt about Montgomery's guilt or the nature of his participation in the crime leads us to question the reliability of the verdict as to the sentence and to conclude that the police report was material to the sentence imposed."

In dissent, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote that the withheld report was not material.

Attorney Rick Kerger said he was pleased with the decision but recognized the process is far from over.

He added that the judges' decision confirmed that Montgomery did not receive a complete and fair trial.

He noted that the appellate court did not address other issues he raised in his initial appeal and said that if yesterday's decision is overturned at some point, he would proceed with other arguments.

Montgomery's case had gone through - and lost - numerous appeals before Judge Oliver's order that it be retried.

Holly Hollingsworth, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the decision is under review.

The mothers of the victims, who expressed surprise and grief upon learning of the initial decision to grant a new trial, could not be reached for comment.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090930/NEWS02/909300353

[AnneTheBelgian]

http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2012/05/17/Supreme-Court-rejects-death-row-inmate-s-appeal.html

Published: 5/17/2012

Supreme Court rejects death-row inmate's appeal

Toledoan again faces execution in 1986 slayings of 2 women

BY ERICA BLAKE

BLADE STAFF WRITER

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from an Ohio death-row inmate who, during his lengthy legal battle, won an overturning of his conviction, only for it to be reinstated.

William T. Montgomery, 46, of Toledo was convicted in the 1986 murders of two South Toledo roommates, a conviction that more than 20 years later was overturned by a federal judge in 2007.

After four years of legal arguments, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision and ordered a new trial.

It was the 2011 decision that Montgomery's defense attorney had hoped the Supreme Court would hear. However, with the high court's decision, Montgomery will again face execution now that his appeals are exhausted.

"Review in the Supreme Court is very difficult to obtain," lawyer Rick Kerger said. "I can't say I'm surprise but I'm am very disappointed. We thought we had some good issues."

Montgomery was sentenced to death for the aggravated murder and aggravated robbery of Debra Ogle, 20, and to prison for the murder of Cynthia Tincher, 19.

His conviction was overturned when a federal judge in Cleveland ruled that a police report kept from the defense during his trial could have changed the outcome.

That decision was upheld in 2009 by a panel of the federal appellate court in Cincinnati in a 2-1 decision but was overturned two years later when the entire appellate court heard the case.

With an 11-5 vote, the court once again instituted the death penalty for Montgomery, saying it disagreed that the report would have undermined the state's case that he was the triggerman. In that police report, witnesses claimed to have seen Ms. Ogle alive on March 12, 1986, four days after she'd been reported missing and presumed dead.

The witnesses who were involved in that report have since written an affidavit claiming a mistake and that they had seen the victim's sister.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge James Bates, who at the time was the assistant prosecutor assigned to the case, said the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal was like a "personal vindication."

Noting that he could discuss the case because he was an attorney and not a judge at the time it was tried, Judge Bates said that the work of the prosecution team, which had been attacked, was now validated.

"In my opinion, there was a certain manipulation of facts that was done by the defense, which was corrected by the Court of Appeals in Cincinnati," he said. "More importantly I'm happy for the friends and families of the victims who have had to live with this for so many years."

Judge Bates said the mothers of the victims were notified of the denial and were relieved. Jane Ogle, Ms. Ogle's mother, could not be reached for comment.

Montgomery has remained on death row pending the appeals. No execution date is pending.







Photo : The murderer William T. Montgomery





Anne