Post by thinkinkmesa on May 30, 2008 9:47:43 GMT -5
OH - Execution date sought for killer of 2 in Toled
Execution date sought for killer of 2 in Toledo
Defense plans to argue against lethal injection
By JC REINDL
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Lucas County Prosecutor's Office has asked the Ohio Supreme Court
to set an execution date for Gregory L. Bryant-Bey, a Toledo native
who murdered two men in 1992.
Bryant-Bey, 52, has been on death row for 14 1/2 years since his
conviction for the robbery and murder of Dale Pinkelman, who owned
Pinky's Collectibles hobby shop in North Toledo.
He also was convicted of the robbery and murder of Peter Mihas, who
owned The Board Room restaurant in downtown Toledo.
Bryant-Bey has exhausted the appeals process and remains incarcerated
at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined earlier this year to hear his case
after a September ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati upheld his November, 1993, conviction for
Mr. Pinkelman's murder.
Last week, the prosecutor's office requested the Ohio Supreme Court
issue a death warrant and set a date for his lethal injection, the
state's only execution method.
County Prosecutor Julia Bates said that Bryant-Bey has had several
execution dates through the years that have come and gone through his
appeals.
"This case started many, many years ago," Mrs. Bates said.
Richard Kerger, attorney for Bryant-Bey, said yesterday that he does
not plan to oppose the prosecution' s motion but hopes to stop the
execution by other means.
Mr. Kerger said it's his understanding that Bryant-Bey would need an
execution date to join an ongoing civil rights lawsuit challenging
Ohio's three-drug method of lethal injection as cruel and unusual
punishment.
A federal judge in Columbus could then grant an emergency stay
delaying Bryant-Bey's execution while the lawsuit sorts itself out.
Mr. Kerger said he is undeterred by the April 16 U.S. Supreme Court
decision that upheld a lethal injection process in Kentucky that is
similar to the sedate, paralyze, and kill method used in Ohio.
"Some of us believe Ohio's [method] is still deficient," Mr. Kerger
said. "Lawsuits have been initiated [in federal court in Columbus]
already, and Mr. Bey will be joining them. Hopefully, that will lead
to a stay of the execution."
County prosecutors anticipated the move and asked the court in their
motion to give Bryant-Bey an execution date regardless because the
inmates' civil-rights lawsuit likely would fail.
"There is no reason for this court to delay setting an execution date
in this case," the motion states.
Mr. Pinkelman's body was found face down on the floor of his North
Towne Square shop in August, 1992. Police, with the help of an
informant, connected Bryant-Bey to Mr. Mihas' murder in November,
1992. Bryant-Bey confessed to that murder.
Police noticed striking similarities between the two murders; both
men died from a single stab wound in the chest, with their pants
removed and their shoes lined up neatly beside their bodies.
Investigators also found Bryant-Bey's match to a palm print in Mr.
Pinkelman's shop.
Bryant-Bey initially was sentenced to life with the possibility of
parole for the Mihas murder, and later unsuccessfully tried to keep
evidence from those proceedings from being used during the Pinkelman
trial.
In 1993, he was convicted of Mr. Pinkelman's murder and sentenced to
death.
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade. com
or 419-724-6065.
toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/NEWS02/805290356
Execution date sought for killer of 2 in Toledo
Defense plans to argue against lethal injection
By JC REINDL
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Lucas County Prosecutor's Office has asked the Ohio Supreme Court
to set an execution date for Gregory L. Bryant-Bey, a Toledo native
who murdered two men in 1992.
Bryant-Bey, 52, has been on death row for 14 1/2 years since his
conviction for the robbery and murder of Dale Pinkelman, who owned
Pinky's Collectibles hobby shop in North Toledo.
He also was convicted of the robbery and murder of Peter Mihas, who
owned The Board Room restaurant in downtown Toledo.
Bryant-Bey has exhausted the appeals process and remains incarcerated
at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined earlier this year to hear his case
after a September ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati upheld his November, 1993, conviction for
Mr. Pinkelman's murder.
Last week, the prosecutor's office requested the Ohio Supreme Court
issue a death warrant and set a date for his lethal injection, the
state's only execution method.
County Prosecutor Julia Bates said that Bryant-Bey has had several
execution dates through the years that have come and gone through his
appeals.
"This case started many, many years ago," Mrs. Bates said.
Richard Kerger, attorney for Bryant-Bey, said yesterday that he does
not plan to oppose the prosecution' s motion but hopes to stop the
execution by other means.
Mr. Kerger said it's his understanding that Bryant-Bey would need an
execution date to join an ongoing civil rights lawsuit challenging
Ohio's three-drug method of lethal injection as cruel and unusual
punishment.
A federal judge in Columbus could then grant an emergency stay
delaying Bryant-Bey's execution while the lawsuit sorts itself out.
Mr. Kerger said he is undeterred by the April 16 U.S. Supreme Court
decision that upheld a lethal injection process in Kentucky that is
similar to the sedate, paralyze, and kill method used in Ohio.
"Some of us believe Ohio's [method] is still deficient," Mr. Kerger
said. "Lawsuits have been initiated [in federal court in Columbus]
already, and Mr. Bey will be joining them. Hopefully, that will lead
to a stay of the execution."
County prosecutors anticipated the move and asked the court in their
motion to give Bryant-Bey an execution date regardless because the
inmates' civil-rights lawsuit likely would fail.
"There is no reason for this court to delay setting an execution date
in this case," the motion states.
Mr. Pinkelman's body was found face down on the floor of his North
Towne Square shop in August, 1992. Police, with the help of an
informant, connected Bryant-Bey to Mr. Mihas' murder in November,
1992. Bryant-Bey confessed to that murder.
Police noticed striking similarities between the two murders; both
men died from a single stab wound in the chest, with their pants
removed and their shoes lined up neatly beside their bodies.
Investigators also found Bryant-Bey's match to a palm print in Mr.
Pinkelman's shop.
Bryant-Bey initially was sentenced to life with the possibility of
parole for the Mihas murder, and later unsuccessfully tried to keep
evidence from those proceedings from being used during the Pinkelman
trial.
In 1993, he was convicted of Mr. Pinkelman's murder and sentenced to
death.
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade. com
or 419-724-6065.
toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/NEWS02/805290356