Until she shot and killed a mentally unstable stalker who terrorized her family, Debbie Hill never even had a traffic ticket for a wrong turn. If anyone deserves parole, she does. But after more than two years in a Columbus prison on a petty charge of carrying a concealed weapon, her requests have been denied.
Until he strangled a grandmother last August, Jessie James Cowans was a free man, despite a record like a crime encyclopedia: age 8, armed robbery; age 15, forgery; age 17, murder of a ''friend'' in a wheelchair. If anyone deserved to rot in prison, he did. But the Ohio Parole Board ignored the danger alarms in his prison file and cut him loose. Three months later he broke into the Monroe Township home of Clara Swart, 69, and killed her.
If you wonder how the schizophrenic Parole Board could release a scary creep who assaulted prison guards, yet coldly deny freedom to a woman who was protecting herself and her family - join the Free Debbie Hill Club.
Trees and mailboxes in three counties surrounding Loveland are tied like gifts with yellow ribbons, put there by people who know Debbie Hill, and wonder why the Parole Board keeps her in prison.
All Ohio taxpayers should wonder. Thanks to the Parole Board's deadly blunder with Jessie Cowans, we may have to pay Mrs. Swart's family $10 million for a ''wrongful death'' lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC).
When Mr. Cowans was arrested for murder, Parole Board members hastily explained that his records had showed he was a ''reasonable risk.''
But the truth trickled out. Someone who was outraged by the injustice to Debbie Hill leaked the secret Cowans file, which showed he was a terrible risk.
''Attitude hostile and negative,'' prison officials warned. ''Angry.'' ''Really bad attitude.'' ''Behavior adjustment below average.'' ''A risk to persons and property.'' ''Release is not appropriate.''
But the Parole Board took a loser's bet with someone else's life and let him out.
Why not gamble on Debbie Hill, a model prisoner with no prior record, who has a job and family waiting? The Parole Board offers a one-size-fits-all excuse: ''The nature of the crime.'' That's all. No explanation.
A month from now, that silence could change. Reacting to the Cowans disaster, DRC Director Reginald Wilkinson promised to open up files and let Ohio residents judge for themselves if parole - or denial - is reckless or reasonable.
On Wednesday, his rule changes will be presented at a public hearing in Columbus. ''I don't think anybody is really opposed to this,'' said DRC spokesman Joe Andrews. ''I don't expect any problems.''
If he's right, by mid-August most prison and parole records would be opened to the public for the first time, including parole decision sheets, minutes of meetings, risk assessments, parole violation hearing reports, special conditions of parole and ''any record that is provided to or considered by the parole board in making its decisions.''
The state could still withhold names of witnesses, victims and informants, or information that could cause security risks or jeopardize prosecution.
But most records will be available by written request, for a copying charge of 5 cents per page.
Opening up his file probably won't trouble Jessie Cowans. He'll be busy scouring it himself, looking for a trial error that could be his ticket out of death row. But open records could prevent another fatal error, by making the Parole Board more accountable and giving the public a right to know what kind of predators are being released into our neighborhoods.
As for Debbie Hill - perhaps opening up her file will reveal why the Parole Board refuses to let her go.
Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said he's investigating a new lead in her 1994 killing of stalker Omar Pierson. A Cincinnati drug dealer now doing time in a Kentucky federal prison has provided tapes that he says will prove that Mrs. Hill's life was in danger.
The drug dealer told me the tapes describe how Mr. Pierson tried to hire another drug-dealer/informant to ''take care of her,'' shortly before she and her son were terrified by an attempted break-in at their home.
''I have no doubt that such an offer was made,'' Mr. Oliver said. But he's looking for more support from other witnesses. He hopes to know more next month.
So Debbie Hill sits in prison, parole denied for another three years - while state officials are opening up prison records, thanks indirectly to her case.
For someone who is locked up, she has accomplished a lot.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer: 768-8301, or 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
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