Court Roundup

Ohio
High court overturns death sentence in woman’s death
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The knife collection of a man accused of raping and killing a female bartender should not have been introduced into evidence at trial because the weapons weren't used in the slaying, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday as it overturned the conviction and death sentence of the accused.

The ruling sends the case of defendant Joseph Thomas back to northeastern Ohio's Lake County for a new trial.

Thomas, 33, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012 for the slaying of Annie McSween two years earlier.

Prosecutors say Thomas attacked the 49-year-old McSween by her car after she asked him to leave the bar where she worked.

Writing for the majority, Justice Terrence O'Donnell said the trial judge improperly allowed into evidence a knife collection belonging to Thomas but not involved in the killing. Allowing the five knives was misleading given the circumstantial case against Thomas, O'Donnell said.

"This evidence painted Thomas as someone with bad character and allowed the jury to convict him on the basis that he acted in conformity with it," O'Donnell said.

Justice Patrick Fischer, writing for the minority, noted that prosecutors argued Thomas was known to carry a blue knife, and that knife was missing from his collection. Fischer acknowledged it was a "close question" whether introducing that evidence was a mistake.

Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson said Wednesday he'll ask the court to reconsider its decision.

The knife collection "was introduced because the defendant had a blue knife, people saw the defendant having a blue knife that night, when we go to his collection, the blue knife is missing," Coulson said. "So that's circumstantial evidence toward part of the crime."

The prosecutor has 30 days to file for reconsideration.

John Parker, Thomas' defense attorney, said he was happy with the ruling.

Arkansas
Texarkana pastor sentenced to 15 years for sexual abuse
TEXARKANSA, Ark. (AP) — A pastor in southwestern Arkansas has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing two teen girls he met in church.

The Texarkana Gazette reports that 42-year-old David Wayne Farren fist confessed to abusing the victims during an interview with police in 2016.

He later pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault and a misdemeanor charge of violating mandatory reporting requirements.

He'll have to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.

The victims are now in their 20s. Prosecutors say the young women approved of the plea agreement, which spared them from testifying in court.

Florida
State to seek death penalty against killer clown suspect
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a woman accused of dressing up like a clown in 1990 and fatally shooting the wife of her future husband.

State Attorney Dave Aronberg issued a statement Wednesday saying he will seek the death penalty against 54-year-old Sheila Keen Warren, who was ordered held without bond at a court hearing.

She was extradited Tuesday from Abingdon, Virginia, where she lived with her husband Michael Warren for years.

Sheila Warren was arrested last month. Officials say Marlene Warren was shot in the face by a clown delivering carnations and balloons. Investigators say a new DNA testing gave them what they needed to make an arrest.

Attorney Richard Lubin said Sheila Warren "vehemently denies" the killing.

Texas
Death row inmate to get new punishment hearing
HOUSTON (AP) — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has agreed with a Dallas County state judge's findings and is returning a 38-year-old El Salvadoran man on death row to court for a new punishment hearing.

The state's highest criminal court agreed Wednesday that Hector Medina's trial lawyers were deficient for failing to present a case during the punishment phase of his 2008 trial.

Medina was condemned for fatally shooting his two small children — 3-year-old Javier and 8-month-old Diana — at their home Irving in 2007.

The court, in another North Texas capital case, has upheld the conviction and death sentence of 43-year-old Cedric Ricks.

He was convicted of fatally stabbing his 30-year-old girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Figuero, at their apartment in Bedford, in Tarrant County, in 2013.