Thursday, May 19, 2016
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court today affirmed the aggravated murder conviction of a Youngstown man, whose death sentence it had earlier vacated.
The Supreme Court voted 6-1, with Justice William M. O’Neill dissenting, to uphold the conviction of Bennie Adams for the 1985 murder of Youngstown State University student Gina Tenney.
In 2015, the Supreme Court returned Adams’ case to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a new sentencing hearing, noting that the state is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution’s double jeopardy clause from again seeking the death penalty.
In today’s opinion, the top court explained that, while his original appeal was pending at the Supreme Court, Adams filed a motion with the 7th District Court of Appeals to reopen the appeal of his conviction based on a claim of ineffective assistance of appeals counsel.
The 7th District denied the request, and he appealed to the Supreme Court, which because of the claim was mandated to hear his case.
Adams is now in Mahoning County jail, awaiting re-sentencing at 10:30 a.m. June 6 by Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The only available sentence is 20 years to life in prison based on the law that was in effect in 1985.