Judge won't reconsider ruling denying permission for Alfred Cleveland to seek new murder trial

ELYRIA — A Lorain County judge has denied a request by attorneys for convicted killer Alfred Cleveland and Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson to reconsider their request for permission to seek a new trial for Cleveland. In a two-sentence ruling dated Monday, Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery rejected the Dec. 17 request by Tomlinson, representing his office, and Ohio Innocence Project attorneys Lauren Staley and Shantya Goddard, who are representing Cleveland. "The court finds that the joint motion is not well-taken and is therefore denied," Rothgery wrote. Tomlinson, who had joined with the Ohio Innocence Project and a number of other attorneys seeking to free Cleveland and his three co-defendants in the 1991 murder of Marsha Blakely, on Monday said he was "disappointed with the decision." "Alfred Cleveland, Benson Davis, John Edwards, and Lenworth Edwards deserve justice. I hope one day they get it," he said. "We're of course disappointed with how the judge handled the joint motion, and we're still weighing our next steps," said Lauren Staley, one of two Ohio Innocence Project attorneys representing Cleveland. "The bottom line is, Al Cleveland is innocent, the prosecutor also believes that he's innocent, and it's a travesty that he has to spend another day with this conviction hanging over his head," Staley said. Cleveland, Davis, John Edwards and Lenworth Edwards are known by their supporters as "The Ohio 4." All four were convicted by juries in Blakeley's murder, convictions that have been upheld by every state and federal court and appeals court to hear the cases. Cleveland and Lenworth Edwards are free on parole. Davis and John Edwards remain in prison. Attorneys for the four men have said witness William Avery Jr. lied when he implicated them in Blakely's murder, and that there is no physical evidence linking them to the crime. Avery has recanted his testimony in 2004 and again in 2006, saying he lied on the stand. Given a chance to testify on Cleveland's behalf at a hearing in 2008, he refused and said he didn't want to go to prison for perjury. Rothgery ruled Dec. 16 that no new facts or evidence had been uncovered that would lead him to granting Cleveland permission to seek a new trial. Cleveland's attorneys and Tomlinson then argued Rothgery misapplied the law, relied on "an unreasonable interpretation of fact" and ignored their re-investigation of Cleveland's case when he made that ruling. Through an attorney, two members of the Blakely family also notified the court that they oppose new trials for The Ohio 4 and their attempts to have the murder convictions overturned and charges dismissed. A message seeking comment on Rothgery's ruling was left for Jonathan Rosenbaum, the former assistant Lorain County prosecutor who handled Cleveland's case. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.