The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man who had been convicted of killing an elderly woman in her Marion home. Lee Crager was found guilty in 2004 of killing Esta Boyd, but because a lab technician was unavailable to testify, the high court says a new trial is required.
Crager's original case was appealed to the Third District Court of Appeals in 2005. The judges there ruled that because the lab technician, who handled a key piece of DNA evidence, was not able to be questioned at the trial, Crager's Sixth Amendment rights were violated.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office took the case to the Ohio Supreme Court, which overturned the appeals' court ruling in 2007.
Crager's attorney, Kevin Collins, then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. That court heard a case with similar circumstances in 2009 and ruled that the defendants rights in that case had been violated. Because of that new precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Ohio Supreme Court to revisit the case.
While the Ohio Supreme Court ordered a new trial back in September 2009, a motion from the State resulted in the court requesting briefs from both sides. Following the submission and review of those briefs from the Marion County Prosecutor's Office and Crager's attorney, the Court re-issued the order for a new trial.
A date on the new trial has not yet been set.
