By Lisa Cornwell
The Associated Press

CINCINNATI - A prosecutor trying to convict an inmate a second time for the slaying of a guard during a 1993 prison riot says the man played a key role in the 11-day siege.

"James Were was one of the leaders of that riot, one of the most active participants in that riot and he is one of the people actually responsible for the death of Robert Vallandingham," special prosecutor Steve Tolbert told a Hamilton County Common Pleas jury in opening statements Friday.

Defense attorney Elizabeth Agar denied that Were was involved in planning and leading the riot. She said there is no evidence to support a conviction.

Were, 46, of Toledo, was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of Vallandingham, a guard at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Vallandingham and nine inmates were killed during the rioting at the Lucasville prison.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled last year that Were must be retried because he was not given a hearing the first time on whether he was mentally competent to stand trial. Prosecutors said that Were refused to submit to a mental evaluation.

Judge Fred Cartolano, who is presiding over the retrial, ruled in January that Were is competent to stand trial.

Much of Tolbert's opening statement Friday was aimed at portraying Were as a main figure in one of three gangs Tolbert said planned the riot. "James Were was the No. 1 lieutenant for the leader of one of those gangs," said Tolbert.

Tolbert said an inmate also will testify that he saw Were with other inmates, taking Vallandingham from a cell and into a shower where he was strangled.

Tolbert also said that Were admitted to an inmate while on a bus going back to Lucasville after the riots that he didn't want to return to the prison because officials knew he had killed the guard. Agar discounted inmate testimony, saying that inmates who came forward to testify against Were hoped to gain breaks in their own sentences.

The trial was recessed after the opening statements and will resume Monday.