Appeals court postpones execution in death by fire

MANSFIELD (AP) -- A federal appeals court has stayed the execution of an Ohio inmate who contends he is innocent in a man's fiery death.
A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati decided 2-1 Thursday to grant Gregory Lott's petition to have a federal district court consider whether there are grounds for a new trial, said David Hanson, a state public defender representing Lott.
Hanson said the decision puts off Lott's execution Tuesday.
In a death-row interview Thursday before the stay was issued, Lott told The Associated Press that the outcome of his trial in Cuyahoga County might have been different if the prosecution had not withheld evidence from him.
Kim Norris, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Petro, confirmed that the state has been notified of the stay. She said the state will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate that stay so the execution of Lott, 42, of East Cleveland, can proceed as scheduled.
"The attorney general does not believe there is anything new," she said.
Jon W. Oebker, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor who argued against Lott's appeals in state courts, also said the defense arguments before the federal appeals court are claims that have been previously rejected.
Lott's lawyers from the Ohio Public Defender's office have argued that Lott did not receive a fair trial because prosecutors did not hand over evidence to Lott to help him with his defense, such as the victim's description of his attacker that he gave police before he died.
John McGrath was attacked and set on fire in his Cleveland home in 1986. McGrath described a light-skinned black man with long, straight hair; Lott has a darker complexion with shorter hair, Lott's appeal said.
Judges R. Guy Cole Jr. and Gilbert S. Merritt voted for the stay and to allow Lott to present his arguments to a federal district judge, who could determine whether there should be a new trial in state court. Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs dissented.
The Ohio Supreme Court denied an appeal Thursday claiming similar issues.
Defendant's remarks
"I didn't kill him, and I did not get a fair trial," Lott said in a small room at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.
Lott, his hands shackled and speaking calmly, said he burglarized McGrath's home twice before the killing. Asked about the description, he said it does not fit him in "any way, shape or form."
The victim's statement "would have made a big difference," Lott said.
Hanson, who sat at Lott's side during the interview, said Lott was an understandable target for prosecution because of the burglaries.