Top court sets aside death penalty in Newport Inn triple murder

Staff report

COLUMBUS

In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court has vacated the death sentence of a Youngstown man convicted of the murders of three people and attempted murders of two others during the 1996 Newport Inn robbery on Youngstown’s South Side.

Lawyers for Willie Herring were deficient because they did not complete a thorough and adequate investigation into Herring’s background to determine which mitigating factors to present to the jury during the penalty phase of his trial, Justice Paul E. Pfeifer wrote in the court’s Wednesday decision.

The top court’s decision affirms the judgment of the Youngstown-based 7th District Court of Appeals.

The top court’s ruling means the case will return to the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas for a new sentencing hearing with a new jury, which will decide whether he should get the death penalty or a life sentence.

“We’re going to explore all options,” said Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, who added that he disagrees with the top court ruling.

“If we were to seek the death penalty, it appears that we would have to retry the entire case again 18 years later,” Gains said.

That’s because the penalty-determining jury must hear and weigh all the evidence in both the guilt-determination phase and the penalty-determination phase, he explained.

In April 1996, Herring, then 18, and five others met at Herring’s house to plan the robbery. Herring distributed guns to three of the men. He wore a Halloween mask, and the others covered their faces with bandannas or a T-shirt.

In the early hours of April 30, they stormed the bar, which was at 179 W. Indianola Ave., demanding money and shooting four patrons and the owner, who was bartending that night.

Three patrons, Herman Naze, Jimmie Lee Jones and Dennis Kotheimer, died from gunshot wounds.

Ron Marinelli, the bar owner, and Debbie Aziz, a patron, survived being shot.

A jury convicted Herring of three counts of complicity to commit aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, and two counts of aggravated robbery, along with death-penalty and firearm specifications.

After a hearing to consider mitigating factors and whether a life or a death sentence was appropriate, that jury recommended the death penalty for the three murders; and the trial judge, John M. Durkin, agreed.

“The investigation in this case was incomplete because counsel failed to interview witnesses and obtain records about Herring’s dysfunctional childhood, gang involvement, substance abuse, and his mother’s drug addiction,” Justice Pfeifer wrote. “Defense counsel also failed to ensure that Herring was adequately evaluated and tested by a psychologist.”

“On the other side of the ledger, we acknowledge that Herring’s course of conduct in killing three people and attempting to kill two more was horrific,” he explained.

Gary Van Brocklin and Thomas E. Zena were the defense lawyers.

The mitigation expert, who was recommended by the Ohio Public Defender’s Office, evaluated Herring’s background and said what he presented in court was all he could come up with during the trial’s penalty phase in February 1998, Zena recalled.

The mitigation expert’s job is to present the defense case as to why the defendant’s life should be spared.

Justice Pfeifer’s opinion was joined by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Judith L. French and William M. O’Neill.

Justice Terrence O’Donnell dissented in an opinion joined by Justices Judith Ann Lanzinger and Sharon L. Kennedy.