More on the Kevin Keith Case

"Evidence of innocence: Kevin Keith sits on Ohio's death row as the eyewitness case against him continues to erode," is the title of an editorial in Akron Beacon Journal.  It appeared in Friday's edition.

The successful prosecution of Kevin Keith relied heavily on the account of an eyewitness. Richard Warren testified in the Crawford County Common Pleas Court that Keith sprayed gunfire in a Bucyrus apartment, killing three people and wounding three others (including Warren). No forensic evidence conclusively linked Keith to the crime. He even had an alibi. So the Warren testimony proved critical in sending Keith to death row 16 years ago.

Now that testimony has begun to fall apart, new attorneys for Keith uncovering fresh evidence since they joined the case three years ago. The attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for relief, Keith facing an execution date in September. On Tuesday, they also filed a motion in Crawford County for a new trial. They have discovered new information in an unrelated lawsuit that concerns the Bucyrus Police Department destroying tape recordings of the station's incoming telephone calls.

Questions long have been raised about the way Warren arrived at identifying Keith. Warren initially insisted that he didn't know the shooter. He explained that the shooter wore a mask. Yet he eventually pointed to Keith. Why? Police officers said a nurse attending Warren in the hospital called the station to say that Warren had identified the attacker as ''Kevin.'' The police then put together a photo lineup of ''Kevins,'' from which Warren selected Keith.

Put aside that the lineup was biased, the photo of Keith larger and darker than the others. The police testified that a nurse ''Amy Gimmets'' made the call to the station. Yet Gimmets never testified at the trial. Another nurse, John Foor, took the stand, telling the court that he called the police to relay that Warren wrote down the name of ''Kevin'' as the attacker.

And:

What is evident is that the police had Kevin Keith in their sights from the start. Did they maneuver to plant the thought with Warren? The new attorneys for Keith have uncovered strong information about a far more likely suspect. All this explains why the Ohio Innocence Project has taken up Keith's cause, why he deserves relief from the Supreme Court and a new trial in Crawford County.

Earlier coverage of the case begins here.