Thursday, January 27, 2000
Murder appeal sought on drugging argument
Man says he was too intoxicated to plead
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Warren County man Wednesday asked a federal court to overturn his murder conviction, saying he was too intoxicated to know what he was saying when he confessed and pleaded guilty.
Brian R. Mann's challenge was filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
The Lebanon man admitted the 1997 murder of Kelley Hiter and is serving a sentence of 15 years to life at the Warren Correctional Institution.
Mr. Hiter was found June 1 in the back of his grandmother's car near Clarksville, shot, stabbed and beaten.
A second defendant, Timothy Gambill, also from Lebanon, also pleaded guilty in Clermont County Common Pleas Court.
All three men were in their early 20s.
Mr. Mann is asking U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith for a writ of habeas corpus because state appeals failed. Typically, a successful petition means a new trial or outright freedom. Mr. Mann's offered four arguments:
• His “conviction was obtained by a guilty plea which was unlawfully induced and not made voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea.” He “was under the influence of three different psychotropic drugs which rendered him unable to understand the nature and consequences of his plea.”
• Allowing him to plead guilty while drugged meant his trial lawyers were so ineffective that they denied Mr. Mann an effective attorney, which is his right under the Sixth Amendment.
• His confession at the plea hearing was coerced because he was under the influence of the prescription drugs and couldn't answer the judge's questions or understand the consequences of his statements.
• The Ohio Supreme Court denied his right to appeal.
Donald W. White, prosecuting attorney for Clermont County, said that as part of the exchange during a guilty plea, judges usually ask defendants whether they have taken any drugs.
Judges also usually ask defense attorneys whether their clients are clear-headed and entering their pleas knowingly, Mr. White said.
It's not unusual for an inmate to accuse his attorneys of being ineffective, the prosecutor added, but he would not comment further, saying he had not received a copy of Mr. Mann's petition.
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