Girdy has repeatedly stated under oath that Skatzes was nowhere around at the time and

had nothing to do with what happened. 

7.  Girdy testified that the weapon he used was a piece of broken glass from an

officers’ restroom.  The medical examiner testified that he found a shard of glass in one

of the potentially lethal wounds made by a broad blade.

8.   Girdy’s belated confession was accepted as true by the special prosecutor

and Girdy was duly sentenced in the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas.

              Nothing has been done to vacate George Skatzes’ death sentence for the

aggravated murders of Elder and Sommers.

            George Skatzes has written a statement from which the following are excerpts:

            The testimony by the inmates in the Earl Elder murder was contradicted and undermined by the testimony of the forensic pathologist.  Yet all this means nothing to the courts!  George Skatzes was found guilty and that is that!  Justice?

            Ohio Jury Instructions 409.56, Other Causes, Intervening Causes, states:  “If the defendant inflicted an injury not likely to produce death, and if the sole and only cause of death was a fatal injury inflicted by another person, the defendant who inflicted the original injury is not responsible for the death.”  [George adds:  There is nothing true about Snodgrass’ testimony.  But if, for the sake of argument, we assumed that Snodgrass was telling the truth, since Snodgrass said Elder was alive when Snodgrass left his cell, under Jury Instruction 409.56 Skatzes could only have been guilty of attempted murder.] 

            In the case of David Sommers, there is no physical evidence to link George Skatzes to the crime.  The inmates who testified against George Skatzes are self-admitted participants in the murder!

            We have two people convicted for causing the death of David Sommers by dealing a single massive blow to the head.  Two people convicted for the very same act?  The object is, of course, to convict at any cost!

Summing up his trial and convictions, Skatzes declares:

            In three aspects of the courts’ proceedings concerning Mr. Skatzes and others of

the Lucasville Five, prosecutors have been able to cite and rely on the law as pronounced

by state and federal courts.  But that doesn’t mean that these convictions and sentencse

are just!   It only means that Skatzes, like other Lucasville defendants, is a victim of what

he calls “the criminal injustice system.”

            Let’s consider three of the judicial doctrines that stand between Lucasville 

defendants and light at the end of the tunnel.

            A jury’s recommendation of the death penalty must be unanimous.  It takes only

one juror in twelve to prevent a recommendation for death.

            But under current law in state and federal courts, any potential juror who states

that he or she opposes the death penalty under all circumstances will almost surely be

“excused,” that is, excluded, from jury service in a capital case.

            In contrast, a juror who indicates support for the death penalty is asked another

question, namely, Would you follow the instructions of the judge about the law?  If the

juror answers, Yes,then that juror may be seated even though he or she favors the death

penalty just as strongly as opponents of the death penalty oppose it.

            The following extracts show the doctrine of the “death qualified jury” at

 work during the “voir dire” (jury selection process) in the case of George Skatzes.

THE COURT: . . . I have a question I want to ask you. . . . [I]n a proper case where the facts warrant it and the law permits it, could you join in with others in signing a verdict form which might recommend to the Court the imposition of the death penalty?

A:  No, sir.

THE COURT:  You don’t believe you could do so?

A:  I don’t believe so.

THE COURT:  Under any circumstances?

A:  No.

THE COURT:  Could you tell me why?

            A:  I had a brother who was murdered and I found it in my heart to forgive that man.  I would not have found him guilty to the extent that his life would be taken.

            THE COURT:  In other words, you feel that if you didn’t do it in your brother’s case, you wouldn’t do it in any other case, right?

            A:  Right. . . .

            [DEFENSE ATTORNEY]: . . . Do you feel that this is a teaching of your church?

            A:  Not so much a teaching of my church as it is an understanding of mine that I do not create life.  I am not giver of life, so I feel that it’s not my responsibility or within reason to expect me to take a life. . . .

            THE COURT:  You may step down.

            THE COURT:  . . . In a proper case, where the facts warrant it and the law permits it, could you join in with the other jurors in signing a verdict form which would recommend to the Court the death penalty?

            A:  Yes, your Honor.

            [PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]:  . . . We brought you here because we want to discuss with you your views on capital punishment.  Can you share them with us, please?

            A:  I strongly believe in them.  I wish they were enforced more often.

            [PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]:  . . . Do you believe the death penalty is the only appropriate penalty in all cases of an intentional killing?

            A:  Pretty much. 

            [PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]:  Does that mean?

            A:  Yes.

            [PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]:  . . . You can think of the wors[t] crime that comes to your mind and if you find that person guilty at the first phase, we don’t go straight to death.  We have the second hearing at which point you would get additional evidence to consider in making your decision as to what punishment is appropriate. . . .

                        What we need to know is whether you could set aside your thoughts as to what you think the law should be and follow the law that the Judge gives you?

            A:  Yes.

            [PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]:  If you found someone guilty of a horrible, horrible crime, as bad as you can think of, would you be willing to keep an open mind and listen to the evidence at the second phase before making a decision as to which penalty is appropriate?           

            A:  Yes.

            [PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]:  No matter how bad the crime?

            A:  Yes.

            . . .

            THE COURT:  . . . We want you back [to serve as a juror in the case].

With the doctrine of the death-qualified jury before us, there should be no

difficulty in understanding why, in such a high percentage of  cases, Lucasville

prosecutors either won a favorable jury decision or entered into a favorable plea

agreement.  At one public forum concerning George Skatzes, known to fellow prisoners

as “Big George,” an attender who had read the dialogue between the judge and  potential

jurors  commented:  “Big George is in Big Trouble.”

            Studies cited by the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute

indicate that the process of selecting a death-qualified jury produces juries that are more

likely to convict the defendant during the guilt phase of the trial, and more likely to

impose the death penalty during the sentencing phase.  John Paul Stevens, retired Justice

of the United States Supreme Court, stated when he was on the bench that this rule

“deprive[s] the defendant of a trial by jurors representing a fair cross-section of the

community.”  He is convinced that “the process of obtaining a ‘death qualified jury’ is

really a procedure that has the purpose and effect of obtaining a jury that is biased in

favor of conviction.” 

            A familiar hypothetical presents the problem of a group of bank robbers.

            Robber A is the driver of the getaway car.  While his companions enter the bank,

he stays at the wheel of their vehicle, perhaps listening to the car radio or reading the

newspaper.  Meantime, the men actually in the bank encounter difficulties, there is a

 scuffle, robber B uses his gun, and a bank teller falls to the floor, dead.

            What should be the punishment of robber A?  Under Ohio law he can be found to

be “complicit” in the entire criminal course of conduct, and presumed to be just as guilty

as the man who pulled the trigger.  Moreover, whereas under Ohio law someone guilty of

“conspiracy” to rob the bank would not be eligible for the death penalty, under the Ohio

law of “complicity” every one in the group would be exposed to the possibility of

execution.

After Aaron Jefferson was convicted of striking the same fatal blow for which

George Skatzes had been convicted, an Ohio Court of Appeals considered the case.    

The court began its explanation by stating:  “Skatzes contends that his due process rights

were violated because the state charged and convicted two inmates—Skatzes and Aaron

Jefferson—with the murder of David Sommers, when the evidence suggested only one

fatal blow.  He argues that these [were] ‘inherently factually contradictory theories’.”

            Not so, the court continued.  “The state’s theory was that both Skatzes and

Jefferson were complicit in the crime; there was no way to prove who had inflicted the

fatal head injury. . . .  A defendant charged with an offense may be convicted of that

offense upon proof that he was complicit in its commission.” 

The court may not have read the transcript of the Skatzes and Jefferson trials.  In

closing argument in the Skatzes trial, Prosecutor Daniel Hogan did not say, “there was no

way to prove who had inflicted the fatal head injury.”  Rather, Hogan asked the jury to

think “about David Sommers, . . . the one where [Skatzes] wielded a bat and literally beat

the brains out of this man’s head.”  State v. Skatzes, p. 6108.  And in the Jefferson trial,

Prosecutor Crowe told the jury:

            Heightened reliability is required in capital cases.  Convictions based on the

testimony of  informants, who are offered reduced charges, parole, or other benefits in

exchange for their testimony, are inherently unreliable in the absence of independent and

objective corroborating evidence connecting the defendant to the crime.

Lucasville capital defendants were faced with an excruciating choice. 

If they had not killed anyone during the eleven days, they had the right to go to

trial and try to convince a jury of their innocence.  But their juries would be made up of

men and women willing to recommend the death penalty; their trials would be governed

by the doctrine of complicity;  and their trial court judges would have no way to assure defendants of the good faith and credibility of prosecution witnesses. 

However if, recognizing that the dice were loaded, the defendant elected to plea

bargain, the best possible outcome was likely to be imprisonment for life.