Arnold’s case is drawing comparisons to that of Ryan Widmer, the Warren County man convicted in his third trial of drowning his wife.
“Incredibly rare,” said Tom Hagel, a University of Dayton law professor who also serves as an acting judge in Dayton Municipal Court.
But the Widmer and Arnold cases went through different paths, including reversals and mistrials.
Widmer’s first conviction in 2009 was voided because of jury misconduct. The second ended with a hung jury, meaning that the jurors could not come to a unanimous verdict.
“You very seldom get a hung jury to begin with,” Hagel said.
Because of the U.S. Constitution’s double jeopardy’s provision, an acquitted person cannot be re-tried. But a hung jury allows the prosecutors to re-try the case.
Widmer was convicted on Feb. 15 of murdering his wife, Sarah, in August 2008 at their Hamilton Twp. home. He is serving a 15-year-to-life sentence. His attorneys have filed an appeal in the case.
Arnold’s first trial ended in February 2008, when a boy came forward and said he saw another child put 3-week-old Paris Talley in the microwave on Aug. 30, 2005. The disclosure of the boy, who was 5 at the time the baby died, came after the defense rested, causing Retired Judge John Kessler to declare a mistrial.
The boy testified in the second trial, before Wiseman, which ended in September 2008. The jury convicted Arnold of all charges, but during the penalty phase — something done only in capital cases — the jury could not agree on whether to sentence Arnold to death.
In a death penalty case, the jury makes a sentencing recommendation, but the judge issues the sentence. Under Ohio law, a judge can reject a jury recommendation for death, but cannot impose death if the jury doesn’t recommend it.
Wiseman sentenced Arnold to life without the possibility of parole.
In November, a three-judge appeals court panel reversed Arnold’s conviction. Much of the appeals’ court’s decision focused on Linda Williams, a former cellmate of Arnold’s in the Montgomery County Jail, who testified in the first trial that Arnold told her she put the baby in the microwave.
After Williams could not be found to testify for the second trial, Wiseman allowed prosecutors to show a videotape of her testimony from the first trial. Then Williams showed up — and testified for the defense, stating that her original testimony was false.
“An error that is so bad that it requires reversal is rare enough to begin with,” Hagel said. “It’s incredibly rare after three trials.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2057 or lgrieco@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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