By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold has issued his decision on the motion by convicted triple murderer Kevin Keith’s attorneys for leave to file a motion for a new trial. Judge Leuthold filed his 12-page decision Friday morning and denied the motion for leave filed by Keith’s attorney’s on Oct. 31.
Crawford County Prosecutor Matthew Crall had this to say about the judge’s decision: “We agree with the court’s conclusion. We did not feel the information the defendant put forth as new evidence met the burden required for a new trial and we’re pleased the court agreed with us.”
The motion to leave is required because Keith’s time to submit appeals has expired. If the motion to leave is granted, then a judge may consider whether or not there is sufficient reason to grant a new trial. This is the fifth time Keith has filed a motion for leave and the fourth time that motion has been denied. The other time such a motion was filed it was voluntarily withdrawn.
The previous motions were filed in August 2007, May 2010, April 2012, and October 2012.
Keith’s defense team says it has a new suspect in the case, a claim made before and rejected in previous appeals. However, this time the defense is also focusing on a scientist who once worked for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, G. Michele Yezzo. Yezzo’s contributions in the Keith case were her analysis of tire tracks and a license plate imprint in the snow at the apartment complex in Bucyrus where the murders occurred.
Yezzo did not testify in person at Keith’s trial, but her deposition was used. Yezzo’s work is being questioned in several cases as a result of incidents in her personnel file raising questions about the objectivity of her work.
A man convicted of murdering his wife in Norwalk has been granted a new trial because of concerns about Yezzo’s work on his case.
In his decision, Judge Leuthold writes, “ . . . this Court does not find that the information in Yezzo’s personnel file constitutes newly discovered evidence that would allow for a motion for new trial.”
Furthermore, the judge notes that Yezzo was available for cross examination at Keith’s original trial presided over by Judge Nelfred Kimerline and tried by then-County Prosecutor Russell Wiseman who later was elected to the Crawford County Common Pleas Court bench.
Judge Leuthold also points out in his decision that Yezzo’s personnel file was available to the defense by way of a public records request at the time of trial and within the required 120-day period to file a request for new trial following the original trial.
Keith can appeal Judge Leuthold’s decision to the Third District Court of Appeals.
Keith was originally sentenced to death for the shooting deaths of 24-year-old Marichell Chapman, her 4-year-old daughter Marchae, and Marichell’s aunt – 39-year-old Linda Chapman – in a Bucyrus apartment. Three others, including two young children, were injured.
Keith’s death sentence was commuted to life without parole in September of 2010 by then Gov. Ted Strickland less than two weeks before his scheduled execution.
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