Former coach convicted in Troy arson case

Former coach convicted in Troy arson case

TROY — An Ohio jury has convicted a former high school basketball coach of setting fire to his home in the days after he was charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Authorities who responded to the fire at James Clay’s house in Troy also found a spray-painted racial slur on his car. Prosecutors said Clay, who is black, started the fire to cast himself as the victim of a racial crime.

The 42-year-old Clay was convicted Thursday of aggravated arson in the 2007 fire. Sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 21.

Clay, who coached at Troy Christian School north of Dayton, was convicted last year of sexual battery and is serving a five-year prison term.

Court allows new trial in bathtub drowning

MIDDLETOWN — A state appeals court will not block a retrial for a man convicted of murder in the bathtub drowning of his wife.

The 12th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled without comment Thursday that it would not hear an appeal by prosecutors seeking to block the retrial of 28-year-old Ryan Widmer.

A jury convicted Widmer in April in the drowning death of his 24-year-old wife, Sarah Widmer, in the couple’s home near Maineville in southwest Ohio.

But a judge said in July that Widmer deserves a new trial because his right to a fair trial was violated when jurors conducted their own bathroom experiments at home.

Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel says the evidence was strong enough to convict Widmer, and the same evidence would be offered in a new trial.

Supreme Court to rule on hearing for inmate

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court says it will determine if a death row inmate should get a hearing to consider whether investigators shielded records that may have changed the outcome of the case.

Fifty-three-year-old Romell Broom is scheduled to die by lethal injection Sept. 15 for the rape and stabbing death of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in Cleveland in 1984.

The court on Thursday ordered attorneys to file arguments over the next week. Prosecutors in Cuyahoga County have asked the high court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that would allow the hearing.

Among the evidence Broom says the state failed to disclose is that Middleton and two witnesses used illegal drugs and had a habit of lying.

Prosecutors say a federal judge has already ruled that the evidence would not have made a difference at trial.

Governor taps new public safety director

COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland has named a new director for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, a week after the previous director stepped down.

Strickland on Thursday appointed Cathy Collins-Taylor, who has served as executive director of an investigative unit inside the agency.

She replaces former Public Safety Director Henry Guzman, who resigned last week along with former State Highway Patrol superintendent Col. Richard Collins.

Strickland says he is confident that Collins-Taylor will be able to work with divisions within the department to ensure that the agency is running effectively.

Associated Press