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Kenny Richey: Briton on Death Row
December 3, 2003 12:00 AM
By Sarah Ludford MEP in European Parliament
By Sarah Ludford MEP in European Parliament
Madam President, I want to raise the case of a British man on death row in Ohio in the United States. Kenny Richey was convicted 16 years ago of arson and the murder of a two-year old girl who died in the fire. But new forensic evidence presented six years ago may well establish his innocence. However, he remains on death row and could be given an execution date any time. This is because US law provides that no new evidence can be introduced after a certain stage.
The prosecutor has said: 'Even though this new evidence may establish Mr Richey's innocence, the Ohio and United States Constitution nonetheless allows him to be executed because the prosecution did not know that the scientific testimony offered at the trial was false and unreliable.' So they know his conviction is unsafe, but he could still be executed. That accounts for why Amnesty International has called it one of the most compelling cases of innocence human rights campaigners have ever seen.
Madam President, I will be circulating an e-mail petition and would urge all colleagues to support it, either to have the case reviewed in the light of the new evidence, or, as a last resort, to appeal for clemency.
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