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Schwieterman Files Another Appeal In Case |
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Thursday, 13 August 2009 |
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Managing Editor
CELINA — Attorneys for a Chickasaw man Tuesday filed another notice of appeal seeking a hearing with the Third District Court of Appeals in Lima.
Attorneys John Poppe and Eric Allen filed the notice on behalf of Nicholas R. Schwieterman, 23, regarding a decision last month by Mercer County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Ingraham. Ingraham rejected a motion filed by the attorneys seeking post-conviction relief and an evidence hearing regarding Schwieterman’s role in a March 2008 collision that killed four area teens.
“We believe we’re actually showing a totally different scenario,” Poppe told The Evening Leader. “They (trial attorneys) didn’t do an investigation.”
Through the use of a crash reconstructionist, Poppe said Schwieterman’s vehicle was traveling 12 mph when a collision took place with a vehicle carrying Jordan Moeller, 18, Bradley Roeckner, 19, of Celina, Jordan Goettemoeller, 19, and Jordan Diller, 19, of Maria Stein. Poppe said he has evidence that shows the other vehicle was traveling 84 mph at the time of impact.
“All we are asking for is a hearing in Common Pleas Court so evidence can be presented so that everyone knows how the accident occurred,” Poppe said. “Our goal is to get Nick Schwieterman home.”
In their previous request filed in Mercer County Common Pleas Court, Poppe and Allen asserted Schwieterman’s 24-year prison term for the four deaths constituted cruel and unusual punishment — a claim Ingraham dismissed. Ingraham also rejected other claims made by the attorneys, including that Schwieterman is innocent of the crime he was convicted of and sentenced to prison on.
The appeal is the second time aspects of the case will land in the Third District Court of Appeals. Attorneys on both sides in April argued in front of judges regarding the sentence itself. Judges upheld the sentence from the trial court.
Last month, Poppe and Allen filed a brief in the Ohio Supreme Court seeking a hearing on the matter. Mercer County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Fox responded to the request, asking justices to reject it. No timetable has been set for a decision by the justices.
The case stemmed from a March 15, 2008, collision at the intersection of County Road 716A and Brockman Road in Mercer County. Schwieterman, who admitted to drinking and snorting cocaine earlier in the night, had a blood alcohol content of 0.134 and was under the influence of cocaine and marijuana at the time of the collision. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 September 2009 )
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