The 6th U

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court should have granted John David Stumpf's petition challenging his 1984 guilty plea and death sentence. Stumpf, 43, who is being held in the Mansfield Correctional Institution, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder in the shooting of Mary Jane Stout on May 14, 1984. A three-judge panel in Guernsey County Common Pleas Court sentenced Stumpf to the death penalty. In a 2-1 decision, the federal appeals court concluded that Stumpf's guilty plea was made unknowingly and involuntary because he was not correctly informed about the nature of his plea. The court also found his due process rights were violated since the state secured convictions on both Stumpf and a codefendant, Clyde Wesley, using inconsistent theories. Stumpf always maintained he was not the person who killed Mary Jane Stout. Stumpf has admitted that he fired the gun at the scene but dropped it. It is Stumpf's contention that Wesley picked up the gun and shot the woman. Following Stumpf's conviction, the state also tried Wesley for the crime. A jailhouse informant testified Wesley admitted he was the shooter in Mary Jane Stout's killing. Wesley was convicted of aggravated murder by a jury and received life in prison. As a result of the federal court's ruling Wednesday, the district court must issue Stumpf a writ of habeas corpus, unless the state elects to retry him within 90 days. A writ of habeas corpus mandates that an inmate be brought before the court to determine whether he is being imprisoned lawfully and whether he should be released from custody.