Freed from death row, Scotsman to fly home
Plea deal over fire that killed toddler makes way for release after 20 years
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22554450/
Prosecutors approved the deal after a federal appeals court determined Richey’s lawyers mishandled the case. The court overturned Richey’s conviction and death sentence last year.
Prosecutor Gary Lammers said the passage of time and the appeals court decision would have made it difficult to prove arson.
“We think it’s an appropriate resolution,” he said. “The fact that he served 21-and-a-half years in prison, I don’t think necessarily makes him a victim. If anything, it holds him accountable — if nothing else — for some of the things that he’s responsible for through this entire sordid case.”
Toddler's family livid over deal
Members of the Collins family glared at Richey during Monday’s court session.
Robert Collins, the father of the toddler who died, wishes his daughter “could appeal her death and come back to life,” according to a statement read by victim advocate Shelly Price.
“The situation surrounding the death of my little girl has haunted me for 21 years,” Collins’ said in his statement. “The unthinkable reality of her choking, crawling, crying, and her little lungs filling with smoke has been etched in my mind since her death. It’s an ongoing nightmare.
“I will never have closure now that the outcome has changed.”
Valerie Binkley, Cynthia’s aunt, told the judge she had prepared a six-page statement, but was too emotional to read it. She then turned to Richey and angrily pointed at him.
“I want you to know you fooled nobody — not me, not that baby, not any of these people,” she said. “You will fry in hell.”
Richey had been convicted of charges accusing him of setting a fire at the Columbus Grove apartment complex in June 1986 to get even with his former girlfriend, who lived in the same building as the child who died
