Court: Ex-Ohio death row inmate can't pursue suit

CINCINNATI (AP) — A man who spent 21 years on Ohio’s death row in a botched prosecution can’t pursue his federal lawsuit against those who put him there.

In its ruling today, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati found that prosecutors did violate Joe D’Ambrosio’s constitutional rights.

But the court says D’Ambrosio’s lawsuit is a failed attempt to hold Cuyahoga County accountable for actions by individual prosecutors.

D’Ambrosio’s attorney says he’ll likely pursue another hearing in the 6th Circuit, and after that, the U.S. Supreme Court.

D’Ambrosio was sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of a 19-year-old Cleveland man. A federal judge later overturned the conviction, ruling prosecutors withheld evidence that might have exonerated D’Ambrosio at trial.

D’Ambrosio was released from prison four years ago.