THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
Death Row Inmate Asks For A New Day In Court
PD Story Raised QuestionsAbout Guilt
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Andrea Simakis
Plain Dealer Reporter
Citing new and unseen evidence, lawyers for Tyrone Noling, sentenced to die in 1996 for gunning down an elderly couple, are asking the federal judge hearing the man's appeal to return Noling's case to the Portage County court where he was convicted.
In a motion filed yesterday with U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent, Noling's attorneys asked the judge to move the case back to state court so they can argue his innocence using information disclosed in a Plain Dealer story on Sunday.
Prosecutors withheld pertinent evidence that Noling could have used in his defense at trial, the lawyers argued. They wrote that they have "never seen most of the documentation identified in the Cleveland Plain Dealer article." The information should have been turned over by prosecutors when Noling was tried for the murders of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig a decade ago.
That evidence is relevant to Noling's claims that Portage County prosecutors "presented fabricated testimony" and failed to disclose evidence favorable to Noling, violating his constitutional right to a fair trial, according to the motion filed by the Ohio Public Defender's Office.
The Plain Dealer article challenged the prosecution's claim that Noling used a .25-caliber handgun to kill the Hartigs and ordered an accomplice to get rid of it. A psychologist hired by the prosecution to assess a key witness against Noling told The Plain Dealer he was never sure if the witness' memories of the crime were real.
The Plain Dealer also reported that another man questioned about the murders refused to take a polygraph and owned a .25-caliber Titan, one of four makes that could have been used to shoot the Hartigs.
"Review of the information in the Plain Dealer article dismantles the few final strands that held the case together," the motion states.
Prosecutors could not be reached for comment last night, but they have, in past court filings, dismissed Noling's claims as "specious allegations and hypothesis."
Noling has tried to get the information disclosed by The Plain Dealer and other evidence for years, but he was denied access because, unlike reporters, defendants can't see prosecutor's files by filing a records request. A judge has to grant a discovery motion for that, something appellate judges have refused to do.
The Plain Dealer also raised serious doubts about the testimony the government used to convict Noling.
Three men confessed to taking part in the slayings and named Noling as the shooter. All have since recanted, saying they lied to save themselves because an investigator for the prosecutor's office threatened them, twisted their words, then, when they agreed to testify against Noling, provided them with details of the killings.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
asimakis@plaind.com, 216-999-4565
Used With Permission.
Email: Tyrone Noling
Webmaster: Vikki Shaw
© Tyrone Noling
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