(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that his office has joined with attorneys for Roger Dean Gillispie in filing a joint motion to stay the appeal of Gillispie's federal habeas corpus case pending in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Gillispie v. Warden, Case No. 11-4417).
The Attorney General's Office and attorneys for Roger Dean Gillispie filed the joint motion today in response to the new trial that was ordered on Friday by the Second District Court of Appeals for Montgomery County. The new trial will be based on Gillispie's claims of actual innocence.
In the habeas corpus case before the Sixth Circuit, actual innocence is not an issue. The case is about alleged prosecutorial misconduct by the withholding of alleged exculpatory police reports. However, there can be no habeas case unless there is a valid state conviction upon which to claim a constitutional violation.
Prosecutors in Montgomery County have indicated that they intend to appeal the Second District Court of Appeals' decision to the Ohio Supreme Court. Both the Ohio Attorney General's Office and attorneys for Gillispie agree that the most prudent course is to ask for the stay of the federal habeas appeal at this time until the Ohio Supreme Court determines whether Gillispie's conviction is valid.
Media Contacts:
Lisa Peterson-Hackley: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840