Hamad appeal delayed by hiring of high-profile lawyer

WARREN

A filing with the 11th District Court of Appeals that will outline the reasons Nasser Hamad thinks his convictions and sentence should be overturned in the killing of two people and injuring of three others will be delayed by a month by the hiring of a new, high-profile defense lawyer.

Hamad, 49, has hired Columbus attorney Sam Shamansky, whom the Columbus Dispatch calls one of the most prominent defense attorneys in the Columbus area.

Hamad was sentenced to 36 years-to-life in prison in November after being convicted of shooting five people Feb. 25, 2017, outside his house on state Route 46 in Howland following a months-long dispute with his girlfriend’s family.

Hamad is serving his sentence in Ohio’s Pickaway Correctional Institution near Columbus and is being treated for terminal cancer.

Shamansky on Monday asked for an additional 30 days to file the appeal, and a magistrate approved the extension to Aug. 24. The filing was originally due today.

Among the high-profile clients Shamansky has defended is Abdirahman S. Mohamud, 26, who was sentenced in January in Columbus federal court to 22 years in prison for plotting to kill U.S. military members at a military base in Texas after receiving military training in Syria.

Read more about the case in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.