Ryan Widmer - Bathtub Murder Trial of Bride of 4 Months, Sarah Widmer

Bathtub killer to learn fate of possible fourth trial

Posted: 2:16 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

By Denise G. Callahan
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN —
Ryan Widmer could learn Monday if he will get a fourth trial in the drowning death of his wife.

The opinion on his first appeal in the 12th District Court of Appeals will be filed Monday morning in the Warren County Court Clerk’s Office, according to staff attorney Scot Ritter. The opinion has been 5 1/2 months in the making.

His attorneys maintain the bathtub he is accused of killing his wife in was illegally seized from his Hamilton Twp. home and should not have been used in evidence.

Widmer has been tried three times in Warren County Common Pleas Court and is serving a 15 years to life prison sentence.

Read more:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/bathtub-killer-to-learn-fate-of-possible-fourth-tr/nSHNx/

Ruling due Monday in Widmer appeal

9:02 PM, Sep. 21, 2012
Written by
Janice Morse

At the Warren Correctional Institution, Ryan Widmer discusses his three murder trials and conviction in the third for killing his wife Sarah Widmer in 2008. Widmer is serving 15 to years to life. These photos were taken in May 2011

LEBANON — Ryan Widmer will find out Monday whether he gets a fourth trial in the bathtub-drowning of his wife.

The Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown will file its decision on the first of two appeals at 9 a.m. Monday in Warren County Common Pleas Court, ScotRitter, an appeals court official, said Friday. A three-judge panel at the Middletown court has been working on the decision since hearing arguments in April.

Widmer’s appellate lawyer, Michele Berry, on Friday said: “The court absolutely should grant a new trial. That’s what I expect to hear when the decision is announced. Law enforcement unlawfully seized the bathtub and used junk science to convict Ryan Widmer. Although there were many other serious errors, the egregiousness of these two errors alone warrants a new trial.”

Read more:

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20120921/NEWS/309210122/

Ryan Widmer appeal offers distinct outcomes

7:35 PM, Sep. 23, 2012

Written by
Janice Morse

An appeals court's decision Monday will be a pivotal one, determining which path the Ryan Widmer murder case will travel next.

A three-judge panel of the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals has been considering the appeal since April, when lawyers gave arguments focusing mostly on whether authorities illegally seized the bathtub where Widmer's wife, Sarah, 24, drowned in 2008 in Hamilton Township. This is the first of two separate appeals pending with the court on Widmer's behalf.

~Snipped~

Among the possible outcomes:

The court could throw out Widmer's conviction and order a retrial. If the judges agree the bathtub was illegally seized, they could block the tub from being used as evidence against Widmer again.

The court could decide to grant a retrial for other reasons. Those include Widmer attorney Michele Berry's contention that he was convicted based on flimsy evidence. She also argues that officials and Widmer's trial lawyers made mistakes that violated his right to a fair trial.

If the court rules in Widmer's favor, he would remain criminally charged and would again be presumed innocent. Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell would have to decide whether to take the case to trial a fourth time.

Read more:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120923/NEWS010702/309230096/Ryan-Widmer-appeal-offers-distinct-outcomes?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Widmer's conviction upheld; no fourth trial

Submitted by Fox19 Web Staff
Monday, September 24th, 2012, 11:30am


MIDDLETOWN, OH (FOX19)- The Ohio Court of Appeals has upheld Ryan Widmer's conviction, and he will not get a new trial.

A three judge panel for the 12th District Court of Appeals upheld the ruling on Monday morning. Click to read the entire ruling.

Read more:

http://warrencounty.fox19.com/news/news/97895-widmers-conviction-upheld-no-fourth-trial

Ohio appeals court denies bid for 4th trial

Published 6:17 a.m., Monday, September 24, 2012

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — A state appeals court has upheld the murder conviction of a southwest Ohio man in the 2008 bathtub drowning of his wife.

The ruling of the 12th Ohio District Court of Appeals was released Monday in Lebanon (LEB'-uh-nun), and it turns back an effort to gain a fourth trial for Ryan Widmer. His attorneys could appeal the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Read more:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ohio-appeals-court-denies-bid-for-4th-trial-3889162.php#ixzz27V6Dm5rD

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO
WARREN COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, :
Plaintiff-Appellee,

-vs-

RYAN K. WIDMER, :
Defendant-Appellant

CASE NO. CA2011-03-027

O P I N I O N
9/24/2012

http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/12/2012/2012-ohio-4342.pdf

Ohio Supreme Court asked to hear Widmer case

5:21 PM, Nov 8, 2012


Ryan Widmer looks at his family after he was found guilty Tuesday of murdering his wife Sarah Widmer in 2008. This photo was taken Tuesday, February 15, 2011. / The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

The lawyer for Ryan Widmer, a Warren County man convicted in the bathtub drowning of his newlywed wife, is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

Attorney Michele Berry filed a 17-page document Wednesday, arguing that the state’s highest court should accept the case. She argues that the Widmer case meets the court’s requirements because it involves issues of “public or general interest” and “a substantial Constitutional question.”

Authorities illegally seized the bathtub from Widmer’s Hamilton Township home after his wife, Sarah, 24, drowned in 2008 because the tub was not specifically listed on a search warrant, Berry argues. But the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown said the tub could be considered “an instrumentality of the crime” and therefore subject to being seized.

Read more:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20121108/NEWS010702/311080107/Ohio-Supreme-Court-asked-hear-Widmer-case?odyssey=nav%7Chead&nclick_check=1

Prosecutor asks justices to deny Widmer’s appeal

Posted: 5:31 p.m. Monday, March 25, 2013

By Denise G. Callahan
Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — The Warren County prosecutor says the bathtub killer case is not one of great interest or importance and urges the Ohio Supreme Court to decline jurisdiction in Ryan Widmer’s second appeal.

Prosecutor David Fornshell filed a response with the high court Monday, asking the justices to turn down Widmer in his quest for a fourth trial.

“Appellant is not a public figure, nor does this case pose any substantial constitutional question that would affect the public,” Assistant Prosecutor Michael Greer wrote. “Moreover, this court should not grant leave to appeal this felony case since appellants propositions of law simply lack merit.”

Read more:

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/news/prosecutor-asks-justices-to-deny-widmers-appeal/nW4Bc/

Ryan Widmer’s case in U.S. Supreme Court scheduled for conference

Posted: 3:08 p.m. Monday, July 8, 2013
By Denise G. Callahan
Staff Writer

The U.S. Supreme Court justices will decide in September whether or not they want to hear Ryan Widmer’s appeal.

Widmer, who was convicted in 2011 of drowning his wife, Sarah, in the bathtub of their Warren County home, has exhausted all of his state court of appeals — two each in the 12th District Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court.

His attorney Michele Berry has now moved his case into the federal courts, petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to consider two questions: whether “body part impression” testimony, based on what she calls junk science, is unreliable and inadmissible and whether the bathtub in the case was illegally seized.

Read more:

http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/ryan-widmers-case-in-us-supreme-court-scheduled-fo/nYghL/

Widmer wants U.S. Supreme Court to clarify Ohio law

Posted: 4:48 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013

By Denise G. Callahan
Staff Writer

Ryan Widmer’s attorney is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Ohio’s post-conviction relief laws unconstitutional because he wasn’t allowed to test his wife’s DNA for a rare genetic disorder.

Just as she did in the state appellate courts, Michele Berry Godsey has now filed two petitions in the highest court in the land. She is hoping to free Widmer from his 15-years-to-life prison sentence for drowning his wife, Sarah, in the bathtub of their Warren County home.

Her first appeal asked the justices two questions: whether the bathtub was illegally ripped out of the couple’s home and whether “junk science” testimony about hand and forearm prints on the now infamous tub should have been allowed.

In her second appeal, Berry Godsey has asked the justices to consider whether Widmer’s request to have his wife’s DNA tested to see if she suffered from Long QT — a rare disorder that causes people to pass out and drown when they are near or in a body of water — should have been allowed.

Former Judge Neal Bronson ruled that the DNA would be preserved but denied the request to have a private company, at Widmer’s expense, test the material.

Read more:

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/news/crime-law/widmer-wants-us-supreme-court-to-clarify-ohio-law/nZktn/

Widmer prosecutors ask Supreme Court to deny appeal

Posted: 3:29 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013

By Denise G. Callahan
Staff Writer

The Warren County prosecutor told the U.S. Supreme Court in his reply brief to Ryan Widmer’s second appeal that Widmer’s constitutional rights have not been trampled on.

Prosecutor David Fornshell filed his reply brief on Wednesday, a little more than a week before the highest court in the land is scheduled to discuss Widmer’s first appeal of his 15-year-to-life conviction for drowning his wife, Sarah, in the bathtub of their home. He is seeking a fourth trial, after his first conviction in 2009 was overturned by juror misconduct, a second jury was hung in 2010, and a third jury sent him to prison in 2011.

Read more:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/widmer-prosecutors-ask-supreme-court-to-deny-appea/nZ239/

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/crime-law/warren-county-bathtub-murder-case-back-in-court/ndZCZ/
Dayton Daily News - Dayton, Ohio -- Posted: 3:10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014

Warren County bathtub murder case back in court

Snipped:

Ian Friedman, a legal expert and past president of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said Widmer has a decent chance of prevailing at this level of the process.

I don't have time to post updates on this thread but will post titles of articles and you can go to the media website to read the article. Don't even have time to Link. Too busy with other cases. (Please see list below)

Ales has done a great job of keeping this thread updated in the past few months. Thank you, Ales, and others who have also posted updates.

Piper, where are you? I know how this case & trial was important to you since it is in your area. I hope you see the updates. Can you believe . . . a possible 4th trial?
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If interested in updates, please go to the media site where the article of interest is posted:


Lawyer of Ryan Widmer presses for fourth trial
WCPO - ‎4 hours ago‎

CINCINNATI -- If his lawyer gets her way, Ryan Widmer will await a fourth trial while he serves a sentence for killing his wife. Widmer's lawyer filed new documents with U.S. District Court, which contain "six assignments of error and a dozen grounds for relief," ...
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Widmer attorney petitions release from prison
WKRC TV Cincinnati - ‎11 hours ago‎

WARREN COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) -- The attorney for convicted killer Ryan Widmer is petitioning the federal court in Dayton, asking for his release from state prison. The petition claims there were several things wrong with his conviction for murdering his wife ...
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Petition asks federal court to free Ryan Widmer
WLWT Cincinnati - ‎12 hours ago‎

For the second time, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a man convicted of drowning his wife in a bathtub. More. Widmer's attorney filed a petition with the district federal court in Cincinnati last week, asking for his murder conviction ...
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Bathtub murder case back in court
Norwalk Reflector - ‎14 hours ago‎

Sensational case has drawn national and international attention and has had many twists and turns. MCT Regional News. Feb 24, 2014. After nearly six years, 39 days in trial, 66 hours worth of jury deliberations, four state court appeals and a sojourn to the ...
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Widmer bathtub murder case back in court
Dayton Daily News - ‎15 hours ago‎

After nearly six years, 39 days in trial, 66 hours worth of jury deliberations, four state court appeals and a sojourn to the highest court in the land, the quest to free Ryan Widmer lives on. Widmer's pro bono appellate attorney Michele Berry-Godsey filed a writ of ...

Oral arguments in Widmer appeal case postponed

Posted: Oct 26, 2015 10:09 AM CDT
Updated: Oct 26, 2015 1:08 PM CDT

Posted by FOX19 Digital Media Staff

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Oral arguments in the Ryan Widmer appeal case has been postponed to December, according to Magistrate Michael Merz.

Arguments were originally schedule to take place Tuesday, but have been postponed until Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m., due to Widmer's attorney having a family emergency, Merz confirmed.

Widmer was convicted during a third trial of killing his wife, Sarah, in a bathtub back in 2008.

Some of the grounds for appeal filed by Widmer's attorney are as follows:

•The bathtub was improperly seized from the home because was not listed on the search warrant.
•The defense believes that the fingerprint expert's testimony was unfounded because he had no scientifically based training in the subject.

The defense says the jury was unaware of the specifics actions that constitute a murder charge.

Read more:

http://www.fox19.com/story/30349623/oral-arguments-in-widmer-appeal-case-postponed