FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Columbus)—The Office of the Ohio Public Defender today filed motions in state and federal court on behalf of Gregory Lott, who is scheduled to be executed on April 27. The Public Defender is arguing that Lott is innocent, and that his execution would be an unconscionable miscarriage of justice.

The core argument in the motions filed with both courts asserts that prosecutors withheld critical evidence during Lott’s trial:

• The murder victim, John McGrath, described his assailant to police as a black man with a very light complexion and long, straight hair. Gregory Lott has a medium to dark complexion and short hair. During the trial, the prosecutor hid from Lott’s defense counsel the police record that contained Mr. McGrath’s description.
• Mr. McGrath also told police that he recognized his assailant from his barbershop. The prosecutor hid this evidence from Lott’s defense counsel, robbing them of the opportunity to investigate the barbershop themselves.
• At trial, the prosecutor claimed that Lott intentionally carried lamp oil into Mr. McGrath’s house with the intent to burn the victim to death—this was used to prove premeditated murder. One month before trial, the prosecutor instructed a detective to find out if Mr. McGrath had any reason to have lamp oil in his house. The detective filed a report saying that Mr. McGrath had an oil lamp in his house; hence, he had reason to have lamp oil. The prosecutor hid this report from defense counsel and then lied in his closing argument about the fact that Mr. McGrath had reason to have flammable lamp oil in his house when he declared that, "Nothing in that man’s house uses kerosene or lamp oil."
• The police pressured a witness to identify Lott, and falsely encouraged her to believe that Lott had used makeup to lighten his skin tone.

• The prosecutor relied on a detective's highly suspect claim that Lott partially confessed, which Lott denies.

Attached to this release are four .pdf documents: Lott’s core innocence argument, and the attached exhibits referenced in the pleadings (divided into two .pdf  files and one .jpg file), including a color photograph the police took of Mr. Lott when they arrested him, which shows he does not have a "very light complexion."

• Exhibit A - photo of Gregory Lott (.jpg)
• Exhibit B-E (.pdf)
• Exhibit F-H (.pdf)

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Amy Borror, Office of the Ohio Public Defender 614-644-1587

Email: amy.borror@opd.state.oh.us