Death row Scot to be finally freed
20 Dec 07
Kenny Richey strikes deal with prosecutors on lesser charges
The Scot imprisoned on death row in America for 20 years is to return to Scotland a free man.
Kenny Richey, 43, was sentenced to the electric chair in Ohio in 1987 after he was convicted of the murder of a two year old girl killed after a fire was started in the block of flats where she lived.
Richey, who has always maintained his innocence, eventually pursued a successful appeal and a retrial was ordered, due to begin next March.
He has now struck a deal with prosecutors under which he will plead "no contest" to revised lesser charges of child endangering and "attempted involuntary manslaughter" in return for his release, taking into account the time he has served. The agreement is due to come before the court for approval today.
Human rights campaigners welcomed the news. The chairman of the parliamentary anti-death penalty group Alistair Carmichael, who has been campaigning for Richey's release for many years, said that although this was a plea bargain, he understood there had been no admission of guilt because there were no murder or arson charges against Richey.