Thursday, February 24, 2000
Conviction reversed for death row inmate
BY PHILLIP PINA and DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed the convictions of a death row inmate accused of killing two Price Hill women in 1987.
Ronald Dean Combs had admitted shooting former girlfriend Marguerite “Peggy” Schoonover and her mother, Joan Schoonover, on June 15, 1987. He was awaiting his execution on Ohio's death row after being convicted in 1988 on two counts of aggravated murder.
But on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District ruled that Mr. Combs deserves a new trial because his attorney failed to adequately represent him.
“He was obviously shocked. And he was obviously very pleased,” said Rick Chesley, Mr. Comb's appellate attorney.
Prosecutors said they will either appeal the decision or pursue another conviction at a new trial.
Either way, they said, the goal is to keep Mr. Combs on death row.
A spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Betty Mont gomery said she may ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the appellate court's decision. Mr. Combs will remain imprisoned while the appeal is pending.
“We're disappointed in the ruling and we're considering an appeal,” said the spokesman, Chris Davey. “This is an important case.”
He said the case against Mr. Combs remains strong be cause the court's ruling does not dispute any of the evidence presented at trial.
Instead, the court concluded that Mr. Combs' attorney did not argue strongly enough on his behalf.
“This is a procedural matter,” Mr. Davey said. “This is not a case where a legitimate claim of innocence is being brought.
“Ronald Combs is guilty of murder. He's admitted that.”
According to court testimony, Mr. Combs was upset that Peggy Schoonover had ended their relationship, which friends described as abusive. The day of their deaths, he stole a shotgun and stalked her and her mother.
A car chase ensued, which ended in a Queensgate parking
lot. The women were honking their car horn to attract attention. Mr. Combs jumped out of his vehicle and approached their passenger window. He lifted his shotgun and fired. Both women were killed.
He was gunned down himself moments later by a Hamilton County corrections officer. Mr. Combs' right arm had to be amputated and his left arm was partly paralyzed.
During his trial, Mr. Combs' attorney “rendered ineffective assistance so egregious as to make us doubt whether Combs' trial produced a just result,” the appellate court ruled.
Some of the problems include a defense witness who was more help to prosecutors, Mr. Chesley said, as well as other testimony that was objectionable but went uncontested by the defense lawyer.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen described the appellate decision as “unfortunate” and said he will support any attempt to overturn it.
“We feel the federal court made the wrong decision,” Mr. Allen said. “But if ultimately we have to retry the case, we'll retry it. And we will seek the death penalty.”
John Schoonover recalls some of the June day when he found two police officers on his front porch. They asked to come in. Then they asked if he would sit down.
He was afraid his wife, Joan, or maybe his daughter Peggy had been hurt in an accident. It was much worse.
“They're both dead,” one officer told him.
He doesn't remember what happened for the next hour.
“I don't know if you have ever had the rug pulled out from under you, but that's how I felt,” Mr. Schoonover said. His family was his life. Mr. Combs should pay with his own for taking that away, he said.
He was shocked and angry over the appellate ruling. It has also left him bitter.
“I think the justice system stinks,” Mr. Schoonover said.
Though he has since moved from his Price Hill home to Adams County, Mr. Schoonover has taken his memories with him. Photographs of his daughter and his wife hang throughout his house. And every time he looks at one, he must also think of the man convicted of killing them. It leaves him with one fear.
“I worry that he will get out,” Mr. Schoonover said.
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