An Akron man on Ohio’s death row should get a hearing on claims his taxpayer-funded attorneys and defense experts failed to properly investigate his troubled childhood, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
New public defenders representing inmate Phillip Jones in his post-conviction appeals contend he was denied a fair sentencing hearing during his trial in late 2007 and early 2008.
They argue that Jones’ trial attorneys failed to hire a mitigation investigator until after the trial began and that another court-appointed expert spent scant time interviewing family members about the defendant’s background.
Further, the lack of a thorough and timely investigation allowed allegations of childhood sexual abuse committed against Jones to go unreported to a Summit County jury, which ultimately sentenced the defendant to death.
On Wednesday, the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals called the circumstances around the mitigation investigation “troubling.” They granted Jones’ appeal, which could lead to a new sentencing hearing before a new panel of jurors.
“If Mr. Jones’ defense team did not do much mitigation investigation by the time the trial started, they could not have formed an appropriate trial or mitigation theory,” Judge Claire Dickinson wrote in a 3-0 decision. Judges Beth Whitmore and Donna Carr agreed with the finding.
Social worker Thomas Hrdy performed the majority of the mitigation research, a process designed to uncover potential facts — such as sexual abuse or drug use — that might sway jurors to impose a penalty other than death.
According to the court opinion, Hrdy spent about 10 hours interviewing family members, some of them during a televised football game, the court wrote. His work began during the trial.
“That’s pretty unusual, and the court recognized that,” said Robert Barnhart, an assistant state public defender represening Jones.
Hrdy worked about 38 hours on Jones’ case overall and was paid about $3,800 for his work. The hours are typical for most capital murder cases in Summit County.
In some other cases, mitigation experts spend more time working for the defense. For example, a Cuyahoga County judge this year approved $160,000 for similar research into the life Anthony Sowell, a Cleveland mass murderer.
In their decision Wednesday, the appeals court also found that Jones’ trial attorneys, Kerry O’Brien and Donald Hicks, did not seek a delay of the trial that would have allowed for more mitigation work.
Jones was convicted of aggravated murder, murder and two counts of rape for the 2007 slaying of Susan Marie Christian-Yates, a 33-year-old Akron woman whose body was found in Mount Peace Cemetery.
The original case was tried before Judge Mary Spicer, who has since retired. Judge Lynne Callahan replaced Spicer and last year denied Jones’ request for a new mitigation hearing, setting up the appeal.
Summit County prosecutors have 45 days to decide whether to appeal. No decision has been made, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
If the appeal is upheld, Callahan would have to gather a new jury to determine Jones’ sentence. He could again face either a death sentence or life in prison with various parole eligibilities.
Barnhart said facts about the sexual abuse of Jones as a child could have changed the outcome of his sentencing hearing.
“That information could have made a difference to a jury,” he said. “It basically takes Phillip’s case from sort of the standard bad life you hear about to the bad life that’s almost unimaginable.”
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.