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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Death row Scot set to be released | Death row Scot set to be released |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A Scottish man who has been on death row in the US for 20 years for the murder of a two-year-old girl is set to be freed after agreeing a plea bargain. | |
| Kenny Richey, whose conviction was overturned, will plead no contest to attempted involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. | Kenny Richey, whose conviction was overturned, will plead no contest to attempted involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. |
| He was convicted in 1987 of an arson attack on an apartment block in an Ohio town that killed Cynthia Collins. | He was convicted in 1987 of an arson attack on an apartment block in an Ohio town that killed Cynthia Collins. |
| It is thought he will enter a plea on Thursday and then return to Scotland. | It is thought he will enter a plea on Thursday and then return to Scotland. |
| The plea would see him being sentenced to time already served. | The plea would see him being sentenced to time already served. |
| It is a complete victory and more than Kenny and I could ever wish for Ken ParsigianRichey's lawyer | |
| His conviction was overturned on appeal for the second time by a US court in August this year, bringing the prospect of a retrial. | His conviction was overturned on appeal for the second time by a US court in August this year, bringing the prospect of a retrial. |
| Richey's lawyer Ken Parsigian said: "It is a complete victory and more than Kenny and I could ever wish for. | |
| "Kenny is thrilled but a little nervous." | |
| Karen Torley, his ex-fiancée and head of the Kenny Richey campaign, said the plea was a face-saving exercise for prosecutors. | |
| She said Richey was upbeat but anxious about the journey home. | |
| "I always knew this day would come, it is just that when it happened it happened so quickly and out of the blue. It took your breath away," she added. | |
| Campaign group Reprieve has been working for years to secure Richey's release. | |
| Two-year-old Cynthia Collins died in the fire in 1986 | Two-year-old Cynthia Collins died in the fire in 1986 |
| Reprieve's legal director Clive Stafford Smith said the case epitomized what is wrong with the capital punishment. | |
| Mr Stafford Smith said: "An innocent man gets a death sentence because he had an incompetent lawyer at trial, his conviction is reversed two decades later, and then he has to enter a plea to avoid a second death sentence. | |
| "It was the right thing to do - nobody can expect him to trust a system that already got it so terribly wrong - but it's an insane process nevertheless." | |
| Richey had always denied murdering his former girlfriend's two-year-old daughter, Cynthia Collins. | Richey had always denied murdering his former girlfriend's two-year-old daughter, Cynthia Collins. |
| He was found guilty of starting a fire at the toddler's mother's apartment in the town of Columbus Grove in 1986. | He was found guilty of starting a fire at the toddler's mother's apartment in the town of Columbus Grove in 1986. |
| The case has attracted appeals on Richey's behalf from Pope John Paul II and the former Archbishop of Canterbury. | The case has attracted appeals on Richey's behalf from Pope John Paul II and the former Archbishop of Canterbury. |