North Country Gazette

Court: Baxter Can’t Intervene In McDonald Case

Posted on Monday, 30 of November , 2009 at 3:09 pm

A NORTH COUNTRY GAZETTE EXCLUSIVE

© By June Maxam

All Rights Reserved

SANDUSKY, OHIO—Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter has lost his bid to intervene in a case in which he’s been accused of withholding exculpatory evidence in a murder trial and threatening a witness in the case who has accused the prosecutor of using her as a sex slave.

Dewitt McDonald, 45, has been imprisoned for the past 14 years in the Lebanon Correctional Facility in Warren County, southern Ohio, for his role in the 1994 death of Vivian Johnson in Sandusky, Ohio who was killed by a stray bullet while sitting in her car.

On Friday, Nov. 6, a federal magistrate in the Northern District of Ohio recommended that the federal court order a writ of habeas corpus which could open the door for a new trial for McDonald.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Vernelis Armstrong concluded that Baxter, who prosecuted the case against McDonald, had a prior relationship with Krista Harris, a key witness for the prosecution in the murder case. The judge determined that Baxter had failed to disclose material, exculpatory evidence and that McDonald “can establish a prima facie case for denial of his right to due process.

In a bizarre and highly unusual move, Baxter had filed a motion seeking court permission to file an objection to Judge Armstrong’s report and recommendation in McDonald’s habeas proceeding.

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Category: Constitution, Courts, Crime, Drugs, Government, Ohio

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