Appeals court vacates Ohio death sentence

By Terry Kinney
Associated Press writer

POSTED: 06:28 p.m. EDT, Aug 04, 2008

CINCINNATI: A man who has been on death row nearly 23 years received ineffective legal counsel in the sentencing phase of his trial, a federal appeals court panel ruled today.

The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Robert Van Hook's death sentence thrown out unless the state conducts a new penalty phase within 180 days.

Van Hook, 48, was convicted of murdering a man he met in a gay bar. He never denied strangling and repeatedly stabbing David Self in Self's apartment in Cincinnati in 1985, but claimed temporary insanity.

''We think it is the correct decision under the circumstances, and we think there is even more evidence than they discussed that will support their decision,'' Keith Yeazel, the Columbus attorney who has represented Van Hook in his federal appeals, said of Monday's ruling.

Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio attorney general's office, said options open to prosecutors include asking the panel to review its decision, asking the full court to review it or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said a decision could be made in about two weeks.

The same panel earlier ruled the murder conviction invalid, but the full appeals court, which consistently splits on death penalty issues, overturned that decision last year. This time, the panel reviewed aspects in the trial that it did not address a year ago.

Van Hook was convicted by a three-judge panel in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.


CINCINNATI: A man who has been on death row nearly 23 years received ineffective legal counsel in the sentencing phase of his trial, a federal appeals court panel ruled today.

The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Robert Van Hook's death sentence thrown out unless the state conducts a new penalty phase within 180 days.

Van Hook, 48, was convicted of murdering a man he met in a gay bar. He never denied strangling and repeatedly stabbing David Self in Self's apartment in Cincinnati in 1985, but claimed temporary insanity.

''We think it is the correct decision under the circumstances, and we think there is even more evidence than they discussed that will support their decision,'' Keith Yeazel, the Columbus attorney who has represented Van Hook in his federal appeals, said of Monday's ruling.

Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio attorney general's office, said options open to prosecutors include asking the panel to review its decision, asking the full court to review it or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said a decision could be made in about two weeks.

The same panel earlier ruled the murder conviction invalid, but the full appeals court, which consistently splits on death penalty issues, overturned that decision last year. This time, the panel reviewed aspects in the trial that it did not address a year ago.

Van Hook was convicted by a three-judge panel in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.