Man convicted of 1991 murder awaits judge’s decision on retrial as trial ends

CINCINNATI — Jeffrey Wogenstahl, Man convicted of murdering 10-year-old Amber Garrett in 1991He is now waiting to see whether the judge will grant his request for a retrial.

In 1991, police found Garrett’s body in an overgrown area along the roadside near the Ohio-Indiana border. Garrett had multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his head. Wogenstahl was found guilty of Garrett’s murder by a Hamilton County jury in 1993 and has since been sentenced to death.

Wogenstahl’s lawyers argue that evidence useful to Wogenstahl’s defense was suppressed at the first trial. They say their right to sue has been violated.

Friday afternoon marked the fifth and final day of a hearing on the evidence in the case.

DNA analysis expert Marc Taylor was the last person called to testify. During his testimony, Taylor was asked by the defense about blood tests taken by police during the first hearing. He said the report on the samples tested and used as evidence did not mention how the process was done.

Therefore, Taylor called the evidence “questionable” and said he could not rule out the possibility of contamination.

Prosecutor Phil Cummings challenged Taylor’s testimony, arguing that Taylor was speculating.

After the final witness was completed, Wogenstahl’s attorneys and the prosecution made brief closing statements to the judge.

Wogenstahl’s lawyers insisted that evidence useful to the defense was never shared with his primary lawyers. This includes forensics, police reports and interviews, they say.

“He’s been waiting a long time to present all this evidence to the court,” Wogenstahl’s attorney, Sarah Gelsomino, said after the hearing.

Cummings backtracked in the defense’s closing argument, saying the laws regarding the discovery process were different during the first trial. He added that the new evidence presented by the defense would not change the original conviction.

Cummings said the evidence proved the original conviction should have been upheld.

“But what you always have to come back to in this case, as all judges, juries, magistrates and courts have done for the last 30 years, is the overwhelming nature of the evidence in this case,” Cummings said. .

The prosecution and defense will submit their final written closing arguments simultaneously to the judge within four weeks. From now on, the judge will make his decision within 60 days.