Post by Admin on May 28, 2007 14:18:40 GMT -5
2003-0487. State v. Skatzes, 2004-Ohio-6391.
www.sconet.state.oh.us/Communications_office/summaries/2004/1208/030487.asp
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Court Affirms Skatzes Conviction, Death Sentence
2003-0487. State v. Skatzes, 2004-Ohio-6391.
Montgomery App. No. 15848. Judgment affirmed.
Moyer, C.J., Resnick, F.E. Sweeney, Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O'Connor and O'Donnell, JJ., concur.
Opinion: www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2004/2004-Ohio-6391.pdf
The Supreme Court of Ohio today affirmed the aggravated murder convictions and death sentence of prison inmate George Skatzes for his role in the April 1993 killings of Corrections Officer Robert Vallandingham, and inmates Earl Elder and David Sommers during the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at Lucasville. Skatzes was also convicted of kidnapping all three victims in the case.
The 7-0 decision was authored by Justice Paul Pfeifer.
On Easter Sunday, April 11, 1993, inmates at Lucasville rioted and took control of L block, one of three main prison cell blocks at the SOCF. Inmates took as hostages eight corrections officers, including Vallandingham. Skatzes was a leader in the Aryan Brotherhood inmate gang at Lucasville and participated in voicing inmate demands to prison authorities. Skatzes and other leaders in the Aryan Brotherhood, including Jason Robb, cooperated with the other major inmate gangs during the riot -- the Muslims and the Black Gangster Disciples -- in holding corrections officers hostage and in making demands to prison officials.
During the first day of the prison takeover, Skatzes, with the aid of a Muslim leader, arranged the murder of inmate Earl Elder who was reputed to have cooperated with prison authorities prior to the riot. Skatzes enlisted the services of a younger member of the Aryan Brotherhood to carry out Elder's murder. Elder's body was carried out to the prison recreation yard by other inmates the following morning. Elder died from multiple stab wounds to the head and chest, as well as skull fractures.
On the second day of the riot, prison authorities turned off the electricity and water in L block. Shortly thereafter, FBI technicians and state authorities placed microphones in the tunnels underneath L block to monitor and record inmate conversations. Inmate leaders, including Skatzes negotiated over the phone with prison authorities to bring about an end to the siege. During this time, Skatzes made threats to kill a corrections officer if inmate demands were not met.
Then, on the morning of April 15, 1993, Skatzes got on the phone with prison officials and demanded that prison negotiators restore the water and power to L block or “there would be a guaranteed murder. Do your thing. 10:30 or a dead man's out there (on the prison recreation yard).” At the inmate meeting of leaders that morning, a vote was taken to kill a corrections officer, and a member from each inmate gang was chosen to participate in the killing. According to witnesses at the inmate meeting, Skatzes agreed with the decision to kill a corrections officer. The deadline announced by Skatzes passed and neither the power nor water was restored to L block. Officer Vallandingham was killed and his body was placed in the prison recreation yard at 11:10 a.m. that same morning. The coroner concluded that Vallandingham died as a result of ligature strangulation.
Later that day, the inmates agreed to release a corrections officer in exchange for allowing Skatzes to make a live radio broadcast to air concerns and demands of the inmates. That evening, Skatzes delivered a rambling monologue on the radio, and corrections officer Darrold Clark, who had been held hostage, was released. The following day, April 16, prison officials allowed inmate Stanley Cummings to broadcast inmate grievances on television in exchange for the release of another corrections-officer hostage. At that time, corrections officer Tony Demons was released to prison authorities.
On April 21, attorney Niki Schwartz helped secure an agreement with inmate leaders to end the prison takeover, and the surrender by inmates began to take place that same day.
Several inmate leaders decided that inmate David Sommers, who controlled the phones and ran the inmates' tape recorder throughout the negotiations “had to die, he knew too much.” As the surrender of inmates was taking place, an inmate lured Sommers into one of the wings of L block where several inmates, including Skatzes, had waited and then proceeded to beat and stab Sommers to death. Inmate witnesses at the scene stated that Skatzes ran up to Sommers while he was on the floor and kicked him in the head. Skatzes was also seen striking Sommers on the head with a baseball bat as hard as he could, at least three times. After the riot, prison authorities found Sommers' body in the L7 wing of L block. Sommers died as the result of a massive blow to the head leading to skull fracture, laceration of the skull, and other severe brain injuries and bleeding.
Skatzes was indicted by the Scioto County Grand Jury for the murders of Elder, Sommers and corrections officer Vallandingham, as well as separate counts of kidnapping Elder, corrections officers Vallandingham, and Clark. Venue was changed to Montgomery County and Skatzes, who testified on his own behalf, was found guilty of all three murders and sentenced to death. The case remained pending on appeal before the Montgomery County Court of Appeals for nearly seven years because of irregularities in the trial record, which the court of appeals eventually corrected. In January 2003, the court of appeals affirmed Skatzes' convictions and death sentence, but vacated his conviction for the kidnapping of Elder at the state's request.
In today's decision, written by Justice Paul Pfeifer, the Supreme Court overruled all 60 assignments of error advanced by Skatzes' attorneys as grounds to overturn his convictions or reduce his sentence.
Among its findings, the court denied Skatzes' claims that the indictment was defective in failing to provide notice to Skatzes of the allegations brought against him, because the indictment tracked the language of the criminal statutes.
The court rejected Skatzes' argument that he was not competent to stand trial, noting that there was nothing in Skatzes' behavior or any indication that Skatzes was incompetent to stand trial. Moreover, the court noted that defense counsel at trial never raised any issue that Skatzes was incompetent, and that counsel had ample time to become familiar with Skatzes, because lead counsel represented him from his appointment in August 1994, through the January 1996 sentencing. The court stated: “If counsel had some reason to question Skatzes' competence, he surely would have done so.”
The justices also rejected Skatzes' claim that he should be spared a death sentence because he suffers from serious mental illness. The court noted that “nothing in the 6,000-plus pages of transcript and record establishes that Skatzes suffers from a serious mental illness. Skatzes has not presented any evidence bearing on his mental health. Nor do any of the assertions that Skatzes was ‘paranoid' or referred to as ‘Crazy George' create a genuine issue as to whether Skatzes has a mental illness that warrants consideration as part of his sentencing.”
The Court also overruled assertions by Skatzes that he had received ineffective assistance of legal counsel because of numerous alleged failures by trial counsel.
In upholding Skatzes' convictions and death sentence, Justice Pfeifer wrote: “Skatzes was a leader in the riot at SOCF and wielded that power to kill inmate snitches or potential snitches. His claims that he was a peacemaker during the riot and that he was not involved in the killings for which he is accused lack credibility in light of the evidence.”
Contacts
Mark Piepmeier, 513.733.8276, for the state of Ohio.
Shirley Shank, 614.326.1217, for George Skatzes.
Please note: Decision summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information (614.387.9250) for the general public and news media. They are not to be considered as pronouncements of the Court or as official headnotes or syllabi of Supreme Court opinions. The full text of this decision and other Court opinions from 1992 to the present is available online from the Reporter of Decisions: www.supremecourtofohio.gov/ROD/newpdf/. In the Full Text search box, enter the eight-digit case number at the top of this summary and click "Submit."
www.sconet.state.oh.us/Communications_office/summaries/2004/1208/030487.asp
Public Information Office - Opinions and Case Summaries
Headlines 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | Search | Upcoming cases | Public Information Home
Court Affirms Skatzes Conviction, Death Sentence
2003-0487. State v. Skatzes, 2004-Ohio-6391.
Montgomery App. No. 15848. Judgment affirmed.
Moyer, C.J., Resnick, F.E. Sweeney, Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O'Connor and O'Donnell, JJ., concur.
Opinion: www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2004/2004-Ohio-6391.pdf
The Supreme Court of Ohio today affirmed the aggravated murder convictions and death sentence of prison inmate George Skatzes for his role in the April 1993 killings of Corrections Officer Robert Vallandingham, and inmates Earl Elder and David Sommers during the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at Lucasville. Skatzes was also convicted of kidnapping all three victims in the case.
The 7-0 decision was authored by Justice Paul Pfeifer.
On Easter Sunday, April 11, 1993, inmates at Lucasville rioted and took control of L block, one of three main prison cell blocks at the SOCF. Inmates took as hostages eight corrections officers, including Vallandingham. Skatzes was a leader in the Aryan Brotherhood inmate gang at Lucasville and participated in voicing inmate demands to prison authorities. Skatzes and other leaders in the Aryan Brotherhood, including Jason Robb, cooperated with the other major inmate gangs during the riot -- the Muslims and the Black Gangster Disciples -- in holding corrections officers hostage and in making demands to prison officials.
During the first day of the prison takeover, Skatzes, with the aid of a Muslim leader, arranged the murder of inmate Earl Elder who was reputed to have cooperated with prison authorities prior to the riot. Skatzes enlisted the services of a younger member of the Aryan Brotherhood to carry out Elder's murder. Elder's body was carried out to the prison recreation yard by other inmates the following morning. Elder died from multiple stab wounds to the head and chest, as well as skull fractures.
On the second day of the riot, prison authorities turned off the electricity and water in L block. Shortly thereafter, FBI technicians and state authorities placed microphones in the tunnels underneath L block to monitor and record inmate conversations. Inmate leaders, including Skatzes negotiated over the phone with prison authorities to bring about an end to the siege. During this time, Skatzes made threats to kill a corrections officer if inmate demands were not met.
Then, on the morning of April 15, 1993, Skatzes got on the phone with prison officials and demanded that prison negotiators restore the water and power to L block or “there would be a guaranteed murder. Do your thing. 10:30 or a dead man's out there (on the prison recreation yard).” At the inmate meeting of leaders that morning, a vote was taken to kill a corrections officer, and a member from each inmate gang was chosen to participate in the killing. According to witnesses at the inmate meeting, Skatzes agreed with the decision to kill a corrections officer. The deadline announced by Skatzes passed and neither the power nor water was restored to L block. Officer Vallandingham was killed and his body was placed in the prison recreation yard at 11:10 a.m. that same morning. The coroner concluded that Vallandingham died as a result of ligature strangulation.
Later that day, the inmates agreed to release a corrections officer in exchange for allowing Skatzes to make a live radio broadcast to air concerns and demands of the inmates. That evening, Skatzes delivered a rambling monologue on the radio, and corrections officer Darrold Clark, who had been held hostage, was released. The following day, April 16, prison officials allowed inmate Stanley Cummings to broadcast inmate grievances on television in exchange for the release of another corrections-officer hostage. At that time, corrections officer Tony Demons was released to prison authorities.
On April 21, attorney Niki Schwartz helped secure an agreement with inmate leaders to end the prison takeover, and the surrender by inmates began to take place that same day.
Several inmate leaders decided that inmate David Sommers, who controlled the phones and ran the inmates' tape recorder throughout the negotiations “had to die, he knew too much.” As the surrender of inmates was taking place, an inmate lured Sommers into one of the wings of L block where several inmates, including Skatzes, had waited and then proceeded to beat and stab Sommers to death. Inmate witnesses at the scene stated that Skatzes ran up to Sommers while he was on the floor and kicked him in the head. Skatzes was also seen striking Sommers on the head with a baseball bat as hard as he could, at least three times. After the riot, prison authorities found Sommers' body in the L7 wing of L block. Sommers died as the result of a massive blow to the head leading to skull fracture, laceration of the skull, and other severe brain injuries and bleeding.
Skatzes was indicted by the Scioto County Grand Jury for the murders of Elder, Sommers and corrections officer Vallandingham, as well as separate counts of kidnapping Elder, corrections officers Vallandingham, and Clark. Venue was changed to Montgomery County and Skatzes, who testified on his own behalf, was found guilty of all three murders and sentenced to death. The case remained pending on appeal before the Montgomery County Court of Appeals for nearly seven years because of irregularities in the trial record, which the court of appeals eventually corrected. In January 2003, the court of appeals affirmed Skatzes' convictions and death sentence, but vacated his conviction for the kidnapping of Elder at the state's request.
In today's decision, written by Justice Paul Pfeifer, the Supreme Court overruled all 60 assignments of error advanced by Skatzes' attorneys as grounds to overturn his convictions or reduce his sentence.
Among its findings, the court denied Skatzes' claims that the indictment was defective in failing to provide notice to Skatzes of the allegations brought against him, because the indictment tracked the language of the criminal statutes.
The court rejected Skatzes' argument that he was not competent to stand trial, noting that there was nothing in Skatzes' behavior or any indication that Skatzes was incompetent to stand trial. Moreover, the court noted that defense counsel at trial never raised any issue that Skatzes was incompetent, and that counsel had ample time to become familiar with Skatzes, because lead counsel represented him from his appointment in August 1994, through the January 1996 sentencing. The court stated: “If counsel had some reason to question Skatzes' competence, he surely would have done so.”
The justices also rejected Skatzes' claim that he should be spared a death sentence because he suffers from serious mental illness. The court noted that “nothing in the 6,000-plus pages of transcript and record establishes that Skatzes suffers from a serious mental illness. Skatzes has not presented any evidence bearing on his mental health. Nor do any of the assertions that Skatzes was ‘paranoid' or referred to as ‘Crazy George' create a genuine issue as to whether Skatzes has a mental illness that warrants consideration as part of his sentencing.”
The Court also overruled assertions by Skatzes that he had received ineffective assistance of legal counsel because of numerous alleged failures by trial counsel.
In upholding Skatzes' convictions and death sentence, Justice Pfeifer wrote: “Skatzes was a leader in the riot at SOCF and wielded that power to kill inmate snitches or potential snitches. His claims that he was a peacemaker during the riot and that he was not involved in the killings for which he is accused lack credibility in light of the evidence.”
Contacts
Mark Piepmeier, 513.733.8276, for the state of Ohio.
Shirley Shank, 614.326.1217, for George Skatzes.
Please note: Decision summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information (614.387.9250) for the general public and news media. They are not to be considered as pronouncements of the Court or as official headnotes or syllabi of Supreme Court opinions. The full text of this decision and other Court opinions from 1992 to the present is available online from the Reporter of Decisions: www.supremecourtofohio.gov/ROD/newpdf/. In the Full Text search box, enter the eight-digit case number at the top of this summary and click "Submit."