09 August 2024 :
August 7, 2024 - Ohio. David Lee Myers granted new trial in 1988 murder
A decisions from Greene County Common Pleas Court Judge Jonathan Hein.
Myers was convicted in 1996 in the murder of Amanda Maher, 18.
After an evidentiary hearing last month, Judge Jonathan P. Hein Aug. 6 vacated the conviction and sentenced and gave Myers a new trial.
“Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and based upon the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, the Court finds that the Defendant’s new evidence is sufficiently reliable — in both theory and in reality — to undermine the integrity of the trial verdict,” Hein wrote. “The Defendant’s motion for a new trial must be granted.”
Hein agreed with the defense’s argument that some of the methods used to identify Myers and determine time of death like hair microscopy and fingermark analysis were scientifically unreliable, and that new DNA analysis excluding Myers as the source of male DNA on multiple objects from the scene might change a jurist’s mind.
Prosecutors insisted that Myers was the last person seen with Maher, had her wallet, confessed to the murder to fellow inmates and had motive to commit the crime.
Maher, who was pregnant and had one young child, was found nearly dead near railroad tracks around 3 a.m. on Aug. 4, 1988. She had been strangled, and the railroad spike had been driven through her temple. She died shortly after while being flown to the hospital.
She had been out drinking with her boyfriend, Glenn Smith, and with Myers, who was then 23 years old.
Smith was arrested at one of the bars just after 1 a.m. A police officer said that soon after, he saw Myers walking with Maher in the direction of the tracks. Myers was arrested with both Maher’s and Smith’s wallets in his possession and charged days later, records said.
Myers hadn’t been prosecuted by 1991 and charges were dropped, but in 1993 Myers was re-indicted for murder after serving time for a separate forgery conviction. After delays, Myers was found guilty in 1996, and the jury recommended the death penalty.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/greene-county-man-death-row-035900629.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIAq4EAmy2gTh8ityoT6KYpSoAtUFovmbPa_AedfjbRIona3d_kidc5AaobNadU9AibPl6E3NkYwU5Gs6-S5G5LkJ-OzEstJCo10Jd9Vk7fpgOZu-p0SB-t76n74vsAf28u3f5t7obt-j5iikZhmCkv44T6vCNXkBfk1cPitszZ1
https://www.xeniagazette.com/2024/08/05/myers-conviction-sentence-vacated-granted-new-trial/
