Ex-Ohio cop freed in killing can stay free for now

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CINCINNATI (AP) — A former Ohio police captain released
after nearly 15 years in prison for his ex-wife’s killing can remain
free as the state’s highest court considers whether to take on his case,
the court ruled Wednesday.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruling will
allow former Akron police Capt. Doug Prade to stay out of jail until at
least the summer, when the court is expected to decide whether to
consider Prade’s appeal of a lower court’s March ruling.
That
ruling, by Ohio’s 9th District Court of Appeals in Akron, found that
Summit County Judge Judy Hunter was wrong to free Prade in January 2013
based on bite-mark DNA testing.
Hunter found that there was
convincing evidence of Prade’s innocence based on DNA tests of a bite
mark found on the lab coat of Prade’s ex-wife, Margo Prade. The tests
showed the DNA did not match Doug Prade.
But the 9th District
court said the DNA testing raised more questions than answers and that
Prade’s original conviction was based on overwhelming circumstantial
evidence.
If the Supreme Court takes the case, Prade would remain
free as the justices weigh whether to overturn or uphold the 9th
District’s ruling.
If the court turns down the case, the 9th Circuit’s ruling would stand and Prade would have to go back to
jail.
Prade’s
attorney, David Alden, said the Supreme Court’s decision allowing Prade
to remain free "is certainly a positive sign" that the court will take
the case.
"If they thought we were full of it, they would have said, ‘Put him back in jail,’" Alden said.

Summit County prosecutor Richard Kasay did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.
He
argued in a March 26 filing that Prade should be jailed pending his
appeal, saying the former officer "has every motive to flee, knowing
that he faces re-incarceration for aggravated murder because of the
court of appeals decision."
Alden had argued that Prade posed no
flight risk, had bought a house in Akron, and was spending time with his
children and grandchildren.
"Mr. Prade is integrating into
society," Alden wrote in a March 19 filing. "He has a place to live, and
he was, is and will be an asset to society."
Prade was convicted
in 1998 of shooting his 41-year-old ex-wife, a family practitioner, in
her van outside her Akron office. There were no witnesses and no
fingerprints, and no gun was found after the November 1997 shooting.
Prade is suing current and former police officers over his conviction, claiming he was framed.
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Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP
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