Cleveland Plain Dealer 

Court postpones execution

Ohio - In Columbus, a federal judge on Wednesday night postponed the execution of Richard Cooey, a convicted murderer who was scheduled to be put to death Thursday morning.

Judge Dan Aaron Polster of U.S. District Court in Cleveland granted the request of Cooey's lawyer for more time to study the case. Polster appointed Gregory Meyers of the Ohio Public Defender's office to take over the case after an appeals court dismissed Cooey's previous attorneys.

"Ultimately, I have concluded that the integrity of the federal court would be impugned if the state of Ohio executes Richard Cooey tomorrow," Polster said.

Cooey, 36, was scheduled to die by injection Thursday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. He arrived from death row in Mansfield on Wednesday morning, said Andrea Dean, a prison system spokeswoman.

Polster said in his ruling issued late Wednesday that a federal court has an obligation to protect a death row inmate's rights if the individual's legal representation is as poor as the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suggested.

"We're deliriously happy," said Ohio Public Defender David Bodiker.

Earlier Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected Cooey's attempt to delay his execution to argue he had poor legal help.

That court ruled 6-0 to uphold the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals' decision that Cooey could not reopen his claim of ineffective assistance from the lawyers who handled his original 1987 appeal.

Cooey also had an appeal pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appeal Meyers filed in Cleveland said the Ohio Public Defender's office has not had enough time to assess the case. Polster appointed Meyers to the case after the 6th Circuit told attorneys Margery Koosed and Nathan Ray in June that it was dissatisfied with the quality of their court filings on behalf of Cooey. The court also criticized the amount of fees they were paid for representing Cooey in federal court.

Koosed received about $100,000 for representing Cooey for 5 years. Ray received about $72,500. Both now represent Cooey at no charge in state appeals.

Polster said that based on the 6th Circuit's letters to Koosed and Ray, not only was Cooey possibly deprived of competent counsel, he also was without any federal representation for at least five weeks before his execution date.

"Reasoned and thoughtful people may debate the significance of the life of Richard Cooey. ... It is our responsibility as federal judges to ensure the integrity of our own process, and that is why I have stayed Cooey's execution," Polster said.

Bodiker said Meyers' request for more time goes to the "fundamental fairness" of Cooey's legal representation.

"We don't have the files. We don't have anything. We have been told there are some issues, but we haven't been able to see them and we were pretty pessimistic about our ability to do anything," Bodiker said.

Meyers cited a "litany of errors" caused by the "incompetent" work of Koosed and Ray.

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's office asked Polster to deny the request, saying Cooey can't be allowed to argue that his previous lawyers were "too zealous" in their representation. Petro's office did not immediately respond to Polster's ruling.

Koosed said she was surprised by the court's dissatisfaction but would continue to represent Cooey at the state level.

The U.S. Supreme Court appeal asked for a review of his case based on an allegation that prosecutors reneged on a deal to offer Cooey a plea bargain at his original trial. On Tuesday, Judge Jane Bond of Summit County Common Pleas Court rejected Cooey's request for a hearing on the same issue. The nation's highest court had not ruled by late Wednesday.

In its Wednesday ruling, the state Supreme Court said state and federal courts have already heard and rejected Cooey's claims of ineffective assistance.

The court also said that the appeals court has previously ruled that the evidence against Cooey was so overwhelming that Cooey couldn't prove he would have been hurt by poor legal help.

Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday denied Cooey's request for clemency.

Cooey admits he kidnapped, robbed and raped sorority sisters Wendy Offredo, 21, and Dawn McCreery, 20, in September 1986. He denied he killed them, but says he's "morally" responsible for the murders.

According to court documents, Cooey was on leave from the Army when he and a friend, Clint Dickens, attacked the women.

Dickens was 17 then and could not be sentenced to death. He is serving a life sentence.