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Thread: James R. Goff - Ohio Death Row

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    James R. Goff - Ohio Death Row




    Summary of Offense:

    On September 15, 1994, Goff murdered 88-year-old Myrtle Rutledge in her home in Wilmington. Goff, who was employed as a delivery person for Butler Home Furnishings, had been to Ms. Rutledge's home earlier that day to deliver some furniture. Later that night, Goff returned to Ms. Rutledge's house to rob her. After finding Ms. Rutledge awake in her bedroom, he beat and stabbed her several times. He then left with her money and car.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    April 6, 2010

    Clinton Co. man who stabbed Bible school teacher has death sentence thrown out

    A Clinton County man convicted of stabbing to death an 88-year-old Bible school teacher should not be executed because his lawyer botched his case, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

    The ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati could get James Goff off Ohio's death row for the first time since his conviction in 1995.

    A panel of three 6th Circuit judges concluded that the judge and defense lawyer in the murder trial made mistakes, and that the lawyer who handled Goff's appeal failed to mention those mistakes in later court proceedings.

    "Failure on the part of Goff's appellate counsel to raise such an obviously winning claim clearly falls below an objective standard of reasonableness," wrote Judge Karen Nelson Moore, who was joined in the decision by judges Ronald Lee Gilman and Gilbert S. Merritt.

    The judges said that neither Goff's trial lawyer nor the judge informed him that he could make a statement to the jury during the penalty phase of the trial, during which jurors must decide whether to recommend a death sentence or a lesser sentence.

    They said the right for a convicted killer to make such a statement is well known and the oversight was serious enough to overturn Goff's death sentence. Goff was convicted of stabbing to death Myrtle Rutledge while robbing her home in 1994.

    Merritt said he also would have overturned the death sentence based on the instructions the judge gave the jurors before they began deliberations. He said the judge failed to make clear that a single juror's vote for life in prison instead of for death would be enough to stop a death sentence recommendation.

    Merritt, appointed to the court by President Jimmy Carter, said he believes Ohio law is unclear on this issue and, therefore, many people may have been sent to death row based on the same flawed jury instructions.

    "No one should be executed as a result of such instructions," Merritt wrote in a separate opinion.

    Moore and Gilman, both appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton, did not join Merritt in his opinion.

    Lawyers with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, which handled the appeal for the state, said they are considering whether to ask the entire 6th Circuit to overturn the panel's decision or whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A spokesman said Ohio's jury instructions are proper.

    Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, whose office has sent more people to death row than any other in the state, said he doubted Merritt's concerns about jury instructions would create problems for other death penalty cases. He said jurors are told that a single vote can block an execution.

    "Ohio law is so restrictive right now, every break goes to the defendant," Deters said. "These judges need to run for governor. They are granting commutations from the bench."

    http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...10702/4070356/

    Opinion here: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions...0a0096p-06.pdf

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's US Supreme Court orders, Goff's petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis was DENIED.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Goff's sentence was again looked at when the state courts reopened his case as instructed so by the 6th circuit. They just vacated his sentence based on the allocution issue. http://statecasefiles.justia.com/doc...?ts=1332170485
    Last edited by JLR; 03-25-2012 at 09:49 AM.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Murderer has to be re-sentenced

    The man sentenced in 1995 to die for killing 88-year-old Myrtle Rutledge of Clinton County must be re-sentenced.

    James R. Goff was back in the Clinton County Common Pleas courtroom on Monday for a status hearing on the re-sentencing, the result of a U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals directive.

    The circuit court's ruling was based on the failure of Goff's trial lawyer and the trial judge to inform Goff that he could make a statement to the jury during the penalty phase of the trial.

    Goff, who has been on death row since 1995, was convicted of stabbing Rutledge to death.

    In addition to capital aggravated murder, he was convicted of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and grand theft after a jury determined he broke into Rutledge's home and killed her.

    A decision this year by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals affirmed Goff's 1995 capital aggravated murder conviction, but reversed and remanded the matter for re-sentencing.

    Writing for a unanimous Twelfth District Court of Appeals, Judge Robert P. Ringland agreed with the circuit court that the trial court's failure to advise Goff of his right to address the jury in the sentencing phase "was error" that requires the matter to be sent back for re-sentencing.

    The ruling by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals' three-judge panel was 3-0 to remand the matter back for re-sentencing.

    Little took place Monday at the short hearing. The next hearing is tentatively set for 1 p.m. Aug. 17.

    Goff's attorneys, David j. Graeff and W. Joseph Edwards of Columbus, have filed a motion to impanel a new jury, basing their request on a ruling this month by the Ohio Supreme Court.

    Assistant Clinton County Prosecutor Andrew McCoy said in court Monday he doesn't believe the recent ruling by Ohio's highest court applies to the Goff re-sentencing.

    Following Monday afternoon's status conference in court, Rutledge's daughter Esther Mae Crownover said, "I hope he gets the consideration that he gave my mother."

    Appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to serve as judge in the matter is retired Clinton County Common Pleas Judge William McCracken, who was the judge for the 1995 jury trial.

    http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?Secti...ticleID=199873
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  6. #6
    Jeez...let's hope they get it right this time...

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Convicted murderer to be resentenced

    A man on death row since 1995 for a Clinton County murder was back here Monday and at some point will be resentenced.

    James R. Goff, 38, killed Myrtle Rutledge during a burglary at her U.S. 22/state Route 3 residence east of Wilmington in September 1994. He was found guilty of aggravated murder and given a death sentence the following summer.

    The case was sent back to Clinton County Common Pleas Court where resentencing will occur at a future date. The 12th District Court of Appeals found that the local court erred when Goff was not asked whether he wanted to make a statement on his own behalf before sentence was pronounced, stated a court document.

    A scheduled court hearing Monday was continued until Nov. 25 so attorneys can prepare to argue motions, including a motion by defense counsel to not allow the death penalty in the case.

    Goff has been a death row inmate since August 1995 in Mansfield and now in Chillicothe. On Monday afternoon in the county courthouse, Clinton County Prosecuting Attorney Richard W. Moyer said, "And we plan to keep him there."

    Moyer said, "But when we get into the federal court system, you have certain judges who are appointed for life that don't want the death penalty and they'll do anything and everything they can to keep it from happening. So we're back here on a resentencing on a case we should never had to come back for."

    In a court memorandum, Goff's defense co-counsel David J. Graeff of Westerville stated his client's youth at the time of the murder needs to be given more weight now than in 1995 for sentencing purposes. The Ohio Supreme Court "has significantly expanded the range when considering the factor of youth," according to Graeff.

    Goff was 19 at the time of the crime.


    The defense attorney said Goff's "adjustment to prison" also should be a factor in deciding whether Goff should receive a life sentence or death. Goff has had "no major infractions" during his 18 years of imprisonment, according to Graeff.

    Goff has worked as a porter during the entire period of his incarceration, the attorney added.

    A third factor that should be re-weighed as a factor against a death sentence, according to Graeff's court paper, is Goff's crack cocaine addiction.

    "The record is replete that James Goff suffered from this addiction beginning in April of 1994 and continuing all the way up to the offense [September 1994]," wrote Graeff.

    Court papers indicate Goff attempted suicide in fall 2005. At 3:20 a.m. Nov. 3, 2005, he was found in prison with a slash injury to his left arm and a razor blade, according to a document in the court case file.

    Former Clinton County Common Pleas Judge William B. McCracken is the judge by assignment for the resentencing. He also was the judge who presided over the 1995 jury trial and penalty phase.

    In a July 2013 court paper filed by Graeff, the attorney stated he had represented Goff in the case since 2001, "when the federal district judge first contacted him [Graeff] and requested that he [Graeff] pursue the case through federal habeas."

    http://wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID...ticleID=207414
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    {¶ 11} On July 1, 2015, the trial court resentenced appellant to death for the murder of Myrtle Rutledge. Appellant was resentenced to three consecutive prison terms on the other charges.

    STATE OF OHIO v GOFF

    In an opinion dated November 21, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court AFFIRMED Goff's convictions and sentence of death on direct appeal.

    STATE v GOFF

    In today's opinions, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for James R. Goff because no execution date has been set. The Court ordered that no execution date be set while appeals of his death sentence are pending.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Court to hear case of Ohio man who killed 88-year-old woman

    By Associated Press

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has scheduled arguments in the death penalty case of a man convicted of fatally beating and stabbing an 88-year-old woman during a robbery.

    Death row inmate James Goff was sentenced to die in the 1994 slaying of Myrtle Rutledge in her Wilmington home in southwestern Ohio. He was found guilty by a jury the following year.

    A federal appeals court ruled in 2010 that Goff received poor legal help during his appeals. He went before a judge in 2015 for a new sentencing and again received the death penalty.

    The 43-year-old Goff argues he was wrongly prevented from presenting a psychological update and evidence of his good behavior in prison at his resentencing.

    The Supreme Court set oral arguments for June 12.

    http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local...year-old-woman
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  10. #10
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Ohio Supreme Court upholds Clinton County man's death sentence in 1994 murder

    WCPO

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a Clinton County man's death sentence for killing an 88-year-old woman during a robbery.

    James Goff fatally beat and stabbed Myrtle Rutledge after delivering furniture to her Wilmington home in 1994. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

    An appeals court found in 2010 that one of Goff's earlier appeals attorneys gave him "ineffective" help. The death sentence was thrown out, but Goff was given death again during the resentencing.

    The Supreme Court justices agreed unanimously that Goff's sentence is similar to other death sentence cases and affirmed his sentence in an opinion this week.

    Goff is currently incarcerated in Chillicothe Correctional Institution. An execution date has not been set.

    https://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/ohio...in-1994-murder

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