Murderer gets second chance - Cincinnati.com

5:46 PM, Nov. 25, 2011  

  • Filed Under
  • News
  • NEWS010702
  • Joe Deters
  • Procter & Gamble

A first in Ohio

There has only been one case like Rayshawn Johnson's in Ohio, but that didn't involve a jury.

In 2007 in Warren County, Timothy Hancock already was serving a life sentence for the 1989 murder and robbery of an elderly woman in Allen County when he strangled to death Jason Wagner, his Warren Correctional Institution cellmate. He was convicted and sentenced to death in the second murder but the penalty later was overturned on appeal.

In that trial, a three-judge panel presided instead of a jury. Hancock's life was saved by that panel, which sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Johnson's retrial will involve a jury.

An Ohio Supreme Court spokesman said that office knew of no other penalty phase-only retrial of a capital murder case in Ohio's history.As of Sept. 30, there were 148 Ohio death row inmates.

Of those, 28 - including Rayshawn Johnson - are from Hamilton County.

Source: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

More In News

Top Stories

  • List: 25 worst sports injuries
  • Murderer gets second chance
  • Crave coming to The Banks
  • Mason celebrates high school's 100th anniversary
  • See all Top Stories

ADVERTISEMENT

Read More @ Source

Criminal Stories Here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Homicide victim found at vacant Everett house

Image
EVERETT -- Police on Wednesday were canvassing the View Ridge-Madison neighborhood in Everett after a man was found dead there the night before. A neighbor spotted the man on the ground outside a vacant house at 22 Madison St. He called 911 about 6:20 p.m. The man had obvious signs of trauma to his torso, police said. He looked to be in his late 20s or early 30s. The Everett Major Crimes Unit is investigating the death as a homicide, Lt. Robert Goetz said. Detectives declined to say more about how they believe the man may have died. There are no identified suspects or motives. Detectives received a search warrant around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday and collected evidence at the scene. They returned Wednesday afternoon to look for clues in the daylight, Goetz said. The victim's identity had not been determined as of late Wednesday afternoon. The body was turned over to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office. Anyone with information is asked to call 425-257-8450. Rikki King: 425-
Keep reading

Manslaughter charges possible in boy's death

Image
Published: Thursday, August 23, 2012, 5:55 p.m. MONROE -- Detectives believe a 7-year-old Monroe boy's parents should face second-degree manslaughter charges in connection with his January overdose death. Monroe police this week wrapped up their probe into the boy's Jan. 30 death and forwarded the case to prosecutors to decide if his parents should face criminal charges. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul likely will begin reviewing the case in the coming days. She doesn't expect to make a charging decision in the near future, however. "It's quite an extensive investigation, and I want to review it thoroughly before I make any decision," she said. The boy, identified as "A.J." in court papers, ingested a lethal amount of salicylates, a chemical common in aspirin and other over-the-counter drugs. The medical examiner declined to conduct an autopsy on the boy, making it difficult to determine how the drug ended up in the boy's system. A
Keep reading