State v. Were, Unpublished Decision (2-4-2005)

DECISION.

{¶ 1} In April 1993, inmates rioted at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. On the fifth day of the eleven-day riot, inmates killed Corrections Officer Robert Vallandingham. Defendant-appellant James Were was convicted in 1995 of one count of kidnapping and two counts of aggravated murder for his participation in Vallandingham's kidnapping and death. We affirmed his convictions. But the Ohio Supreme Court reversed, holding that Were was deprived of a fair trial because the trial court failed to hold a competency hearing.1

{¶ 2} After a second trial, a new jury…