BY KYM LIEBLER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- A prisoner accused of killing his cellmate by plunging a paintbrush handle through his eye socket could be the first Warren County defendant sentenced to death since 1907.
The Warren County prosecutor's office is seeking the death penalty against James Galen Hanna, 49, who was indicted in January on an aggravated-murder charge in the death of Peter Copas, 43. It is the county's first death penalty case since 1995, when prosecutors unsuccessfully sought the death penalty for Willie Ledford. The 46-year-old Franklin man was convicted of killing Ellen I. New, 55, a clerk at a Franklin Dairy Mart, and is serving a life sentence.
Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said his office will diligently pursue the death penalty against Mr. Hanna, but he noted the decision ultimately rests with either a jury or a three-judge panel.
"I believe that (the death penalty) is what he deserves," Mr. Oliver said. "It is the job of this office to get the conviction and get to the penalty phase, and let the trier of facts decide."
Although the county has tried five death penalty cases since 1985, no defendants have been sentenced to death.
By contrast, Hamilton County has sentenced eight men to death since 1995, with three of those sentences handed down this year. Butler County Common Pleas Court has sentenced two men to death since 1990, one in 1991 and another in 1996.
"We're so conservative in Butler County, and Warren County is even more so," said Butler County Prosecutor John Holcomb. "They'll sure find them guilty fast, but they're merciful." Mr. Hanna's trial is set for late October before Judge Neal Bronson of Warren County Common Pleas Court.
Mr. Hanna, who is serving a life sentence for a 1977 murder, and Mr. Copas, who was serving eight to 20 years for corruption of a minor and intimidation, shared a cell at Lebanon Correctional Institution for four days in August 1997.
On Aug. 22, 1997, officials said, Mr. Hanna attacked Mr. Copas between 4 and 6 a.m. while Mr. Copas was asleep. They said he also beat Mr. Copas in the head with a lock hidden in a sock. Corrections officers checked the cell when they heard Mr. Copas yell for help.
Mr. Copas died Sept. 10 at Ohio State University Hospital "as a result of injuries sustained Aug. 22," according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigates crimes inside state prisons.
