Richey home in days after plea bargain

KENNY Richey, the Scot who was on death row in the United States for 20 years, expects to be home for Christmas after accepting a plea deal that will end his ordeal, but will also prevent him establishing his innocence.

The 43-year-old will walk free from a court in Ohio this afternoon if, as expected, a judge rubber-stamps an agreement that he should plead "no contest" to charges of attempted involuntary manslaughter over a fire in 1986 that killed a two-year-old girl. Although "no contest" is not an official guilty plea, it is widely viewed as an admission of guilt.

The deal is an extraordinary twist in the long-running case, which saw Richey's campaign for freedom backed by the former prime minister Tony Blair, Amnesty International and the late Pope John Paul II.

Richey has always maintained his innocence and had repeatedly said he was looking forward to clearing his name at the forthcoming retrial, due to start in March. In January 2005, he insisted: "It's a matter of honour; no bargains, no deals, no nothing."

The ex-marine will also plead no contest to endangering a child and breaking and entering. He will be freed because his time in jail already exceeds any new sentence that can be imposed.

Richey, whose original murder conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court in August, was sent back to jail to await a new trial for manslaughter and arson next March.

His lawyer, Ken Parsigian, said Richey's first priority would be getting on a plane bound for Edinburgh tomorrow night, landing in Scotland on Saturday morning and celebrating Christmas at home with his mother Eileen in Dalry, Edinburgh.

"It is the greatest present that I or Kenny could have asked for," Mr Parsigian said. "It is a complete victory and more than Kenny and I could ever wish for."

But the acceptance of a deal, so close to the retrial, raises questions over why he would change his mind.

"The state wanted him to plead guilty and Kenny would not do that," said Mr Parsigian.

"They (the prosecutors] have agreed to drop murder, to drop the arson and took the most basic minor face-saving deal of no contest," he said. "There was nothing left for them to fight about."

Richey is in declining health and has suffered at least three heart attacks in custody. Last month, he spent two days in hospital with chest pains. He spent almost two decades on death row until his transfer to Putnam County jail in September.

Gary Lammers, the Putnam County prosecutor who planned to argue at next year's trial that Cynthia Collins died in a fire set by Richey to take revenge on an ex-girlfriend, said last night that he would reserve comment until after today's hearing.

Passions about the case are still strong in Columbus Grove, Ohio, where the fire took place, and Mr Parsigian had sought to have the retrial moved out of Putnam County, claiming that it would have been impossible to find an impartial jury.

Mr Lammers strongly resisted the move.

Richey's American father, James, who lives in Washington state, said last night that his family was delighted his son was about to win his freedom.

"We're very happy, as you would imagine," he said.

"This is something we've been waiting for, for a very long time. I spoke to Kenny two days ago and he was very upbeat."

Richey has spoken in the past about what he first planned to do when he was free.

"There's so much I want to do when I get out, but a cold beer will be pretty high on the list, and of course I'll be giving my mum a bit of a hug."

'A TERRIBLE IRONY'

CLIVE Stafford Smith, director of the anti-death penalty campaign group Reprieve and who has represented Mr Richey since 1992, said: "This case epitomises what is wrong with the capital punishment system.

"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.

"There is a terrible irony: when Kenny protested his innocence and insisted on a trial, the state of Ohio sentenced him to death; but now he enters a plea, they set him free."

Alistair Carmichael, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for the abolition of the death penalty, said: "Kenny's experience on death row has been an inhumane one and he will require a great deal of support and help when he is freed."

Kate Allen, Amnesty International's UK director, said: "This is really wonderful news and we're delighted for Kenny and his family."