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State v. Reynolds1/8/2002
JUDGMENT: Reversed and remanded
Defendant-appellant, Gordon L. Reynolds, appeals a decision of the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court denying his petition for post-conviction relief and request for an evidentiary hearing.
On April 21, 1995, a jury found appellant guilty of one count of aggravated murder by prior calculation and design (R.C. 2903.01), two death specifications (R.C. 2929.04 and ), and a firearm specification (R.C. 2941.141 ). These charges stemmed from the death of Lynn Hanna who was murdered in 1988. The penalty phase began on April 26, 1995, and the jury recommended that appellant be sentenced to death. The trial judge sentenced appellant to death on April 28, 1995.
On direct appeal, this Court affirmed appellant's conviction and sentence. State v. Reynolds (Jan. 4, 2001), Columbiana App. No. 95-CO- 30, unreported, 2001 WL 15790.
Appellant filed a petition for post-conviction relief and request for an evidentiary hearing on January 28, 1998. Plaintiff-appellee, State of Ohio, represented by the Columbiana County Prosecutor's Office, filed no answer, and on March 4, 1998, the trial court overruled appellant's petition and denied appellant's request for an evidentiary hearing. On June 19, 1998, appellant filed a motion to have the trial court issue findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to R.C. 2953.21(G). The trial court issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law on July 29, 1999. This appeal followed.
Appellant raises two assignments of error which are interrelated and share common issues of legal analysis; therefore, they will be addressed together. Appellant's first assignment of error states:
"The Trial Court Erred in Denying the Petition Without a Hearing, for the Petition and the Evidentiary Material Appended to It Clearly Made Out a Prima Facie Case of a Constitutional Violation."
Appellant's second assignment of error states:
"The trial court erred in denying Appellant a hearing on his petition, thus depriving Appellant of liberties secured by U.S. Const. amend. XIV and Ohio Const. art. I, §§ 1, 2, 10, and 16, including meaningful access to the courts of this State."
Appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his petition for post-conviction relief without first conducting an evidentiary hearing. Appellant argues that he made a prima facie showing that the verdict rendered in the trial court is void or voidable under both the United States and Ohio Constitutions. Appellant contends that the prosecutor concealed and failed to properly disclose material evidence which appellant could have used to impeach key State witnesses. Appellant states that it explicitly asked appellee to disclose any inducements or "deals" that appellee had made with witnesses.
In response to appellant's requests, appellant argues that appellee failed to disclose to appellant that it had struck a deal with two key State witnesses. Appellant argues that it produced sufficient evidence of these "deals" including but not limited to, copies of checks issued by Columbiana County Sheriff Richard J. Koffel and Columbiana County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herron to Gordon Springer for an amount totaling $5,000.00.
Appellant argues that the foregoing evidence demonstrates that the prosecution failed to comply with its affirmative disclosure obligations as set forth by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions in Brady v. Maryland (1963), 373 U.S. 83, Giglio v. United States (1972), 405 U.S. 150, United States v. Bagley (1985), 473 U.S. 667, and Kyles v. Whitley (1995), 514 U.S. 419. Appellant argues that the aforementio
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