Jury recommends execution for Twinsburg cop killer

[guest]

Jury recommends execution for Twinsburg cop killer

A Summit County jury recommended death for the man convicted of killing Twinsburg Police Officer Josh Miktarian.

This morning the jury recommended that Ashford Thompson, 25, of Twinsburg be put to death.

The jury heard testimony Thursday from defense witnesses on Thompson's behalf and a tearful apology from Thompson himself.

The jury felt that Thompson should not be given life in prison and should be executed.

The decision was announced at 10 a.m.

Thompson will be sentenced at 10:30 a.m. on June 23 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Elinore Stormer.

"We believe the jury's recommendation that Ashford Thompson be put to death for killing Officer Miktarian is the right punishment for this cold blooded murder," said Summit County Prosecuting Attorney Sherrie Bevan Walsh in a news release. "Every time an officer puts on that badge he or she may be in harm's way, risking their lives for our safety and protection. Nothing can change the events of that night. A widow grieves, a child longs for her father, parents have buried a son, and we join fellow officers who mourn for an outstanding colleague."

Thompson was found guilty on June 3 of the aggravated murder of Miktarian.

The officer was killed early the morning of July 13, 2008 when he pulled Thompson's car over for loud music and suspected drunk driving.

"Thompson pulled a concealed handgun from his pocket and shot point blank into Officer Miktarian's head," said the news release. "As the officer fell to the ground, Thompson bent down, placed the gun against the officer's head and fired three more times. Thompson and his girlfriend fled the scene and he was later found at his sister's house in Bedford, where he fought with Bedford Officers."

Miktarian's engraved handcuffs were still on Thompson's wrist.

More;
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/jury_recommends_execution_for.html

[guest]

Death sentence recommended for convicted cop killer

A Summit County jury recommended the death sentence for Ashford Lamar Thompson on Friday morning for the 2008 shooting of Twinsburg police Officer Joshua Miktarian.

Court officials said the jurors reached their unanimous decision in the capital murder case at 10 a.m. after being sequestered overnight in an area hotel.

Common Pleas Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer read the sentencing decision in open court at 10:30 a.m., and Thompson was escorted out of the courtroom by a security detail of sheriff's deputies about 15 minutes later.

As Thompson was led into the elevator on the third floor of the county courthouse, he ignored questions from television crews about whether he had anything to say.

Stormer scheduled Thompson's formal sentencing date for June 23.

Last week, the same jury convicted Thompson of aggravated murder, death penalty specifications, firearms offenses, escape and all remaining charges in his nine-count indictment.

Miktarian, a 33-year-old married father with an infant daughter, was shot four times in the head July 13, 2008, after stopping Thompson in the driveway of his Twinsburg residence for playing loud music on his car stereo.

The officer's widow, Holly Miktarian, was present in the courtroom for the sentencing decision, accompanied by family members, friends, Twinsburg officers and members of the county's Victim Services agency.

A spokesman for the family said Holly Miktarian declined to comment. She will have something to say after the formal sentencing of Thompson, the spokesman said.

Minutes after the verdicts were read, Twinsburg Police Chief Christopher J. Noga read a prepared statement in the courthouse lobby, saying the jury recommended ‘‘the only possible sentence appropriate in this case.’’

‘‘The jury recognized the brutality of this case ` that Officer Miktarian was executed in cold blood while faithfully and lawfully performing his duties as a police officer for the city of Twinsburg,’’ Noga's statement said.

‘‘The jury saw through Thompson's false humility; observed his arrogant and callous disregard for the life of our friend as well as the laws of our society; and determined the only proper sentence for his crime is death.’’

He said he is confident Stormer will uphold the death sentence and that it will be ‘‘carried out expeditiously.’’

The forensic pathologist who performed the officer's autopsy testified that one of the wounds was a contact gunshot to the left side of the forehead.

John Saraya, a crime scene investigator for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, told the jury that blood spatter evidence on Thompson's white tennis shoes showed that Miktarian already was down when he was shot three more times in the left side of the head.
www.ohio.com/news/break_news/96143099.html

[thinkinkmesa]

Ohio judge hands down death penalty to cop killer

A judge has sentenced a man to death for killing a police officer during a routine traffic stop.

Judge Elinore Stormer in Akron handed down the sentence today to 25-year-old Ashford Thompson of Twinsburg. The officer's family members watched in court, some in tears.

Thompson was convicted of fatally shooting 33-year-old Twinsburg officer Joshua Miktarian in 2008.

The judge accepted the jury's death sentence recommendation. She could have reduced the sentence to life in prison.

More;
www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/06/23/cop-killer.html?sid=101

[thinkinkmesa]

Judge agrees with jury: Death for Thompson

Following a 20-minute Bible reading and spoken prayer, Ashford L. Thompson sat calmly as he was sentenced to death by Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer for murdering Twinsburg Police Officer Joshua Miktarian nearly two years ago.

Miktarian was a Tallmadge resident and also briefly served with the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department.

"The murder of police officers exists in the same category as the assassination of a top elected official or the murder of a young child," Stormer said June 23. "They are the only people who get up and put on a bullet-proof vest in the morning ... and they are the only people who leave their homes not knowing if they're going to be shot that day. This is the burden of police officers.

"Because the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating factors, this court sentences you to death," she told Thompson just before 11:30 a.m.

Stormer then set an execution date for June 23, 2011, and Thompson was led from the courtroom by Summit County Sheriff's Office deputies for transport to death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.

More;
www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4849927

[thinkinkmesa]

New public defenders assigned to handle Thompson's appeal

Two attorneys from the Ohio Public Defender’s Office will represent Ashford Thompson during the automatic appeal of his death sentence to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Public defenders Rachel Troutman and Kim Rigby have been assigned to represent Thompson, who was sentenced to death June 23 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer. The execution is scheduled for June 23, 2011.

Neither Troutman nor Rigby returned calls for comment.

Thompson was convicted June 4 in the 2008 murder of Twinsburg Police Officer Joshua Miktarian.

“In the case of a death penalty sentence, the defendant always receives an automatic appeal which goes straight to the Ohio Supreme Court,” said Amy Borror, public information officer for the Ohio Public Defender’s Office. “This appeal is mandatory and can’t be waived by the defendant.”

During this appeal, the court must determine if the sentence was valid or if it should be overturned. A hearing in the Ohio Supreme Court for Thompson has not yet been scheduled.

If the Ohio Supreme Court upholds Stormer’s sentence, Thompson has the right to file for additional appeals with the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, but he is not required to do so.

More;
www.twinsburgbulletin.com/news/article/4852088