USA - Ohio. Dewaine Poindexter spent 24 years on Ohio’s Death Row, but he will never be executed

Dewaine Poindexter spent 24 years on Ohio’s Death Row, but he will never be executed. Poindexter, 49, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985 for the Feb. 19, 1985 aggravated murder of Kevin Flanagha, who wad dating his former girlfriend, Tracy Abernathy. But the case bounced back to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court for a new sentencing phase. In July 2006 the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit unanimously ruled that Poindexter received poor legal help because his attorneys failed to question a security guard who was a witness, didn't interview witnesses or provide a "cohesive defense." Instead of recreating a 24-year-old case with all of the evidence and witness issues, prosecutors offered a plea deal that Poindexter accepted today. Judge Norbert Nadel – the same judge who presided over the 1985 trial and sentenced Poindexter to death – accepted the plea deal. In exchange for prosecutors dismissing the death penalty, Poindexter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 46 years. Because he's already served 24 years, Poindexter must serve at least 21 years more before he is eligible for parole.