COLUMBUS Board denies parole for Teague

Parole won't be considered again until 2017.
By MARC KOVAC
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A man convicted of killing a World War II veteran who was eating a sandwich in his home was denied an early release by the state parole board Tuesday.
James Teague, 56, has been in prison in Ohio for three decades.
Parole Chairwoman Cynthia B. Mausser said the nine-member board, by majority decision, agreed that release for Teague should be denied. Parole won't be considered again until May 2017.
Teague is serving a life sentence for aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, forgery and drug abuse. He has been in prison since April 1976 and is incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
According to documents, Teague and a co-defendant robbed a pharmacy in Masury, Trumbull County, and shot and killed a man in an attached residence in June 1974.
Mausser said Teague has appeared before the parole board on eight occasions and was recommended late last year for release on or after April 5 to the state of Pennsylvania, where he is to serve 10-40 years on separate robbery convictions.
Tuesday's hearing provided an opportunity for the victims and prosecutor to argue against parole.
Inmate's counsel
Wendie Gerus, legal counsel for the inmate, said the co-defendant in the case did the shooting, panicking after seeing the victim, Charles Earnhart, with a weapon. She said there's no question that the crime was terrible and heinous, that Teague has a prior record of violent offenses and that he has an addiction to drugs.
But Gerus said Teague is not the "same brash, young man" who was imprisoned more than 30 years ago. "He has now been incarcerated for 32 years in the state of Ohio as well as two years in the state of Pennsylvania," she said.
Gerus added that the inmate has completed numerous rehabilitation programs, including victim awareness and anger and stress management. He also has accumulated 117 credit hours toward a college degree, completed a dental technician program and taken part in considerable community service.
"He is very sorry for what he did," Gerus said.
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, who originally prosecuted the case, discounted the earlier statements and said it was news to him that Teague claimed he wasn't the shooter.
"At no time, from the identification of the victim's wife who ID'd the defendant [as] the guy, did we believe there was anyone else but James Teague," he said.
Earnhart, Watkins added, was a World War II veteran. "He never had an opportunity nor did he do anything that would lead to being shot five times. If this case was tried today, James Teague would be on death row or [sentenced] to life without parole."
Watkins said the inmate displays anti-social behavior and has a long history of criminal activity, both in and outside of prison.
Two of the victim's children, James Earnhart and Mary Bible, also urged the board to deny parole. They recounted a high school graduation he didn't get to attend and grandchildren he didn't get to meet.
"I want him to stay in there for life; I think he deserves it. ... I don't see this man being rehabilitated," Bible said.
mkovac@dixcom.com.