(CLEVELAND) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that he has filed a notice of appeal and request for a stay in regards to last week's federal court ruling granting a new trial to a man sentenced to death for the murder of a Cleveland police officer in 2000.
A Cuyahoga County jury found Quisi Bryan, 44, guilty of shooting and killing Wayne Leon on June 25, 2000, while the officer investigated Bryan for a traffic violation. Bryan was sentenced to death.
Last week's ruling in the United States District Court Northern District of Ohio ordered that Bryan receive a new trial, claiming that trial prosecutors violated Batson v. Kentucky by using a peremptory strike against a potential African American juror. The Ohio Supreme Court, which initially denied Bryan's claim in 2004, ruled that the trial prosecutor provided several racially neutral reasons for dismissing the potential juror and that Bryan failed to present evidence that the State had a discriminatory intent.
"I strongly disagree with the federal court's order for a new trial," said Attorney General DeWine. "This defendant viciously took the life of an innocent law enforcement officer, leaving the officer's children without a father and his wife without a husband. My office will fight to keep this murderer on death row for this senseless crime."
Attorneys with Attorney General DeWine's Criminal Justice Section will handle the appeal.
Notice of Appeal
Motion for Stay
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Media Contacts:
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840