LEBANON — Prosecutors cried foul Monday after a Warren County judge threw out jurors' recommendation of a death sentence for twice-convicted killer Timothy Hancock.

        Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said he will appeal the decision Judge Neal Bronson made after discovering someone on the judge's staff had mistakenly given jurors potentially inflammatory exhibits to review while deciding the inmate's fate.

        Death pictures of child rapist Jason Wagner, the knotted cloth used to strangle him and statements Mr. Hancock gave to police prejudiced the jury's decision to recommend the death sentence, the judge said.

        Judge Bronson said he had no choice but to ignore the jury's recommendation. He sentenced Mr. Hancock to life in prison without parole for the Nov. 13, 2000, killing at Warren Correctional Institution.

        However, Mr. Oliver contended the evidence could not have influenced the case. He said jurors had already seen it during separate deliberations to determine Mr. Hancock's guilt.

        “It's not as if it was new to them,” Mr. Oliver said.

        Defense lawyers were just as stunned, but pleased, by Judge Bronson's decision, which they learned minutes before the sentencing hearing.

        “I never felt like there should have been a death sentence in this case,” said Patrick Long, one of two attorneys who represented Mr. Hancock.

        “They put those two gentlemen in a cell together and as a result someone was killed.”

        Defense lawyers plan today to file an appeal of the guilty verdict.

        Mr. Hancock, who was diagnosed with various mental illnesses while in prison and was being treated for psychosis at the time of the killing, lost his insanity defense Dec. 4 when a jury found him guilty of aggravated murder.

        During Monday's hearing, Mr. Hancock implied that he preferred death and told the judge he might kill again.

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