Court denies appeal of Valley man on death row

Photo

Davie Roderick

The next step would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

WARREN — A federal appeals court has upheld the death sentence of a city man convicted of killing two former co-workers at a veterinary supply warehouse in Warren in 1991.

Roderick Davie, 37, is now one step closer to execution.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, has denied Davie’s appeal of his death sentence.

Davie argued his conviction was flawed because he had been illegally questioned by police, as well as because of misconduct by prosecutors and deficient jury instructions.

Davie’s defense lawyers said Davie’s confession to killing John Coleman and Tracey Jefferys and injuring William Everett on June 27, 1991, at Veterinary Companies of America of Warren, was coerced because police questioned him four times over about six hours.

Two of three appellate judges ruled that the confession was admissible, however, because Davie had initiated the fourth interview, the one in which he admitted to committing the crimes.

In his dissent, Judge Gilbert Merritt wrote that Davie was illegally enticed to confess despite repeated refusals to waive his Miranda rights.

Davie was fired by the pet food and supplies company three months before the killings.

LuWayne Annos, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said the next step in Davie’s legal battle would be to appeal the 6th Circuit’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

She said it takes about a year for the Supreme Court to accept or reject such a case, and it accepts only about 2 percent of cases.

An execution date would likely be set if the U.S. Supreme Court denies the case, Annos said.