COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court will not reconsider its decision granting a new trial for a man convicted of raping and fatally stabbing a bartender.
The Lake County prosecutor had disputed the factual and legal basis of the court’s decision to vacate Joseph Thomas’ death sentence. But the (Willoughby) News-Herald reports that the high court denied his request for reconsideration.
The 33-year-old Thomas was convicted in 2012 for the slaying of Annie McSween two years earlier.
Justice Terrence O’Donnell said the trial judge improperly allowed into evidence a knife collection belonging to Thomas, but not involved in the killing.
Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson says a knife missing from the collection was part of the circumstantial evidence against Thomas.
A new trial has not been scheduled.
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Information from: The News-Herald, http://www.news-herald.com/jrc-html/index/index_p33.html
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