ASHLAND — Ashland County Court of Common Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel denied a post-conviction-petition filed by convicted serial murder Shawn Grate earlier this week.
A post conviction petition, as explained by Ashland Co. Prosecutor Chris Tunnell, is a request by a defendant, after he has been convicted, that the trial court set aside the jury’s verdict and order a re-trial.
“Such a petition is very common in capital cases such as this,” Tunnell said in a press release issued Thursday.
Grate murdered at least five women across three counties. He was convicted in 2018 of killing Stacey Stanley, 43, and Elizabeth Griffith, 29, both of Ashland, after a jury trial before Forsthoefel.
The jury recommended the death penalty. Forsthoefel agreed.
Grate was also convicted of killing two women in Richland County — Candice Cunningham, 29, and Rebekah Leicy, 31. And he was given a life sentence in 2020 for the 2006 murder of Dana Nicole Lowrey in Marion County.
The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld Grate’s death sentence twice.
During the appeals, Grate argued his trial lawyers, Robert and Rolf Whitney, were ineffective.
The petition, if upheld, would have meant the trial court setting aside the verdict and the ordering of a re-trial.
In the petition, which was filed Jan. 21 on Grate’s behalf by Melissa Jackson of the Ohio Public Defender’s Office, stated there were errors committed by Grate’s defense team in the presentation of psychological evidence, among other issues.
“Although psychological testimony was presented at trial, trial counsel failed to present any compelling and meaningful psychological testimony, and in fact presented psychological testimony that was incorrect and inflammatory,” Jackson wrote in the petition.
Stephen Maher, senior assistant of the Ohio Attorney General — whose office has aided Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office — responded to the initial petition by stating, “This group of claims are not founded on evidence but rather are mere legal theories, none of which have found favor with any court.”
On Tuesday, Forsthoefel denied without a hearing the petition for post-conviction relief, writing, “The court finds that defendant’s petition for post-conviction relief does not allege any facts, which if proved, would entitled Shawn M. Grate to relief.”
Tunnell said he was pleased with Forsthoefel’s judgement in a press release his office issued Thursday.
“The name of the game in capital litigation is to exhaust all state remedies so that they can find a sympathetic ear in the federal courts,” Tunnell said. “A federal court won’t hear an appeal of this sort until they have done everything possible in state court to get their verdict overturned.”
Tunnell added the filing of a petition for post-conviction relief was yet another avenue to appeal to the Fifth District Court of Appeals, then to the Ohio Supreme Court and finally the U.S. Supreme Court.
“When and if all of those appeals are denied and exhausted, the public defender’s office will file a petition with the federal courts and take their complaints there,” Tunnell said.
The prosecutor said he feels good about the way his team handled the case when it was tried in 2018.
He noted: “As always, anytime there is a development in this case, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as our first responders who had to investigate that tragic situation.”
Jackson, the Ohio Public Defenders attorney, was not immediately available for comment.
