Kenny Richey

Template:Pp-move Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Kenneth Thomas Richey<ref name="brainerddispatch.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (born August 3, 1964) is a British-US dual citizen who in 1987 was convicted in Ohio of murdering a two-year-old girl and sentenced to death. He spent 21 years on death row before re-examination of his case led to his release, after he accepted a plea bargain in which he pleaded no contest to manslaughter.

Early life

Richey was born in the Netherlands to a Scottish mother and an American father. He was raised in Edinburgh, Scotland but moved to Ohio to join his father in late 1982. He served in the Marines before moving into government-subsidized housing in Columbus Grove.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Murder conviction and imprisonment

On June 30, 1986, a fire broke out in the apartment complex in which Richey lived. The fire originated in an apartment where Hope Collins lived with her two-year-old daughter, Cynthia; Cynthia died of smoke inhalation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prosecutors argued that Richey started the fire and was targeting his ex-girlfriend, Candy Barchet, who lived in the same apartment complex.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the death penalty sentencing hearing, evidence was presented regarding Richey's history of mental health problems; a psychologist and social worker testified that Richey had borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and histrionic behavior disorder.<ref>Template:Cite court</ref>

He was convicted in January 1987 of murder by arson, following which he spent 21 years on death row.

A 1992 documentary from This Week entitled "The Brit on Death Row" and a 1998 documentary from World in Action entitled "A Date with the Executioner", were both made about Richey and the campaign for his release from the death sentence.

Release

In December 2007, he accepted a plea bargain, which led to his release from death row and return to Scotland on January 9, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Richey's plea bargain involved pleading 'no contest' to manslaughter, child endangering and breaking and entering. He was sentenced to time served, with the murder and arson charges dropped. A 'no contest' plea is not an admission of guilt. The accused, by entering a no contest plea, neither disputes nor admits to the charges.

During his 20-year incarceration, doubts arose about the circumstantial evidence that led to conviction, particularly the forensic evidence. This led to a campaign to re-examine the evidence. Amnesty International described the case as, "one of the most compelling cases of apparent innocence that human rights campaigners have ever seen." <ref>AmnestyTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Life after prison

Richey was granted British citizenship in 2003, becoming the first to benefit from a change in British nationality law regarding the status of children of British mothers and non-British fathers born outside the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

2010 imprisonment

After returning to the United States in 2010, Richey was arrested in Mississippi and charged in Ohio with phoning in threatening messages to Judge Randall Basinger (who was assistant county prosecutor at the time of Richey's 1987 murder trial). Despite Richey's claim that the threats were merely a drunken prank, Visiting Judge Dale Crawford found Richey guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref> Richey was released after two years and spent some time working with the American charity Sanctuary Quarters, which builds houses for homeless veterans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2020 imprisonment

In October 2019 Richey was arrested in Columbus, Ohio after posting a video threatening Judge Randall Basinger, his children, and his grandchildren. In July 2020 he was convicted of making threats and sentenced to 12 years in jail.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Krishna Maharaj, another British national fighting a murder conviction in the United States

References

• Bradshaw v. Richey, 126 S. Ct. 602, 163 L. Ed. 2d 407, 2005 U.S. LEXIS 9033, 74 U.S.L.W. 3320, 19 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 7 (U.S. 2005)
• Richey v. Mitchell, 395 F.3d 660, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 1218, 2005 FED App. 39P (6th Cir.) (6th Cir. Ohio 2005)
• State v. Richey, Case No. 12-87-2, Court of Appeals of Ohio, Third Appellate District, Putnam County, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 4914, 28 December 1989
• State v. Richey, 64 Ohio St. 3d 353, 1992 Ohio 44, 595 N.E.2d 915, 1992 Ohio LEXIS 1723 (1992)
• State v. Richey, Case No. 12-97-7, Court Of Appeals Of Ohio, Third Appellate District, Putnam County, 1997 Ohio App. LEXIS 5284, 18 November 1997
• State v. Richey, 2000 Ohio 1843, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 2245 (Ohio Ct. App., Putnam County 26 May 2000)

External links

• Richey at Amnesty UK
• Ohio DeathRow.com
• Affidavit of forensic scientist Tony Cafe