Convicted Serial Killer Loses Bid for New Trial Based on Juror Upset by His Wink
Convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell won’t get a new trial based on a juror’s reaction to his wink.
Judge Dick Ambrose of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, refused Sowell’s defense attorneys’ request on Tuesday, report CNN and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The motion had claimed the jury forewoman revealed she was prejudiced against him during an Aug. 12 news conference, but she never disclosed her feelings to the judge during the trial. Jurors convicted Sowell in July in the murders of 11 women.
At the news conference, held after jurors recommended a death sentence, the forewoman said Sowell had played to cameras, according to the motion. “He even winked at me once,” she said, calling the eye contact “unwarranted.” She also told of feeling overwhelmed during a tour of Sowell’s residence that had been requested by the defense.
The prosecutor—and Sowell himself—were not impressed with the new trial bid, according to the Plain Dealer account. Sowell complained that he had been dragged out of bed for the futile hearing. “Don’t bring me back here for that bull—-,” Sowell said. “I was sleeping nicely.”
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Matthew Meyer called the defense motion “asinine” and “foolish,” the Plain Dealer says. He argued that granting the motion would give defendants an incentive to sabotage their trials.
