42 year old Shawn Hawkins was convicted of shooting two young men in Mt Healthy near Cincinnati in June 1989, in what prosecutors say started as a deal for a pound of marijuana and hours later with the murders of 18 year old Terrance Richard and 19 year old Diamond Marteen. In laying out the case against Hawkins at a clemency hearing before the state parole board, Stephen Maher with the Ohio Attorney General’s office says he’s confident Hawkins is a killer.
“There’s evidence, and speculation can go on forever. The evidence points to Shawn Hawkins. So says the jury, so said the court systems, and that’s what we got.”
The speculation comes from some of the evidence in the state’s case. There’s 16 year old Henry Brown Jr, who was originally charged as a co-conspirator but changed his story several times and was granted full immunity for his testimony. And there’s a partial fingerprint in blood on a notebook in the car where the men’s bodies were found – but Hawkins’ lawyer Anthony Covatta says that notebook was handled improperly.
“Ultimately I don’t know if that’s Shawn’s print or not. But on the state of the evidence, is that enough to sentence a man to death? Is that proof beyond a reasonable doubt?”
Maher says the jury that convicted Hawkins decided it is.
“We know what’s going on here – this is a capital case. Henry Brown makes Shawn Hawkins the shooter, and it’s corroborated by the best physical evidence that you could have – a bloody fingerprint. Shawn is there after people start bleeding. And in context of everything else, that’s your conviction.”
Hawkins said in an interview from the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown that he’s not a murderer. Hawkins has a very good record behind bars, and has found some surprising supporters, who say his is among the weakest death penalty cases they’ve seen. Among them – Republican State Senator Bill Seitz. He’s written to Gov. John Kasich and the parole board, asking for mercy for Hawkins, something he’s never done in a capital case before.
“I am a firm believer in capital punishment in appropriate cases. And therefore if we want to preserve that as an option, which I believe we must, we must also be careful to not use that kind of draconian penalty in cases where I believe there is more than reasonable doubt as to Mr. Hawkins’ guilt.”
Former Republican candidate for governor Ken Blackwell, who also supports the death penalty, is lining up behind Hawkins, along with former prisons directors Terry Collins and Reginald Wilkinson, and the mother and sister of victim Diamond Marteen. And in a sworn statement before he died, Hamilton County Judge Norman Murdock said he cried after sentencing Hawkins to death because he felt the jury had made a mistake. But prosecutors say 11 judges who’ve heard the case and the appeals have backed the state’s arguments, and Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters wrote in a statement that Hawkins - quoting here -“simply rehashes the same false and misleading allegations”. The parole board is likely to make a recommendation to the governor on clemency next week.