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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
First Degree Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
21-1/2 to 50 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
17 |
Year Crime: |
1988 |
Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
2007 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Ohio |
County or Region of Crime: |
Portage |
City of Crime: |
Mantua |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Robert Gondor was co-defendant of Randy Resh. Both men were wrongly convicted in 1990 of charges related to the August 14, 1988 murder of Connie Nardi in Portage County, Ohio. Their prosecutions were based on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of a third codefendant, Troy Busta, who pled guilty to murder. During their seperate trials Resh and Gondor testified in their defense they were at the Village Tavern in Mantua where they saw Nardi, but they did not leave the bar with her. After their jury convictions Resh was sentenced on July 31, 1990 to serve a total of 20 years to life in prison for murder (15 years to life in prison) and attempted rape (5 to 15 years), and on October 12, 1990 Gondor was sentenced to 21-1/2 to 51-1/2 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and obstruction of justice. In 1993 the Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals separately affirmed the convictions of Gondor and Resh. In 1993, the Ohio Supreme Court separately declined to review the discretionary appeals of both Gondor and Resh. On September 20, 1996 Gondor and Resli filed separate petitions for post-conviction relief based on claims the State had withheld exculpatory material and they had received ineffective assistance of counsel. After almost six years of legal proceedings, in June 2002 the trial court granted their petitions and ordered new trials based on ineffective assistance of counsel that deprived the jury of receiving and considering significant exculpatory evidence that crime lab tests detected no DNA or blood on the bedliner of Gondor's truck that Resh and Gondor left the bar in, and that Busta told the police during an interview shortly after the murder that he would be willing to set-up Resh and Gondor, and he stated, "I'd do anything I have to do to get myself out of this." The State appealed and reversed the trial court's order. Resh and Gondor appealed the appeals court's ruling. On December 26, 2006, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ordered a new trial for both men, based on ineffective assistance of counsel by the failure of the men's lawyers to present significant exculpatory evidence during their trial. Gondor and Resh were released on bond on January 19, 2007. Randy Resh was acquitted after a retrial on April 18, 2007. The charges against Gondor were dismissed on April 27, 2007, nine days after Resh's acquittal. On October 6, 2015 Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed Judge Marvin Shapiro's May 12, 2014, ruling the Court of Common Pleas that Resh and Gondor were "wrongfully imprisoned individuals" and "actually innocent" of Nardi's murder. Based on the ruling Resh and Gondor filed a complaint for compensation with the Ohio Court of Claims on October 27, 2015. On December 21, 2015 the Court of Claims approved payment of 50% of the anticipated total awards to Resh and Gondor based on the current of payment of $51,901.58 per year ($142.20 per day) of wrongful imprisonment: $427,453.20 to Resh (50% of award of $854,906,40 for 6,012 days of wrongful imprisonment); and, $422,049.60 to Gondor (50% of award of $844,099.20 for 5,936 days of wrongful imprisonment.) The total award was subject to adjustment based on the final disposition, either after a trial or by a settlement between the State and Resh and Gondor. On January 11, 2016 Court of Claims Magistrate Holly True Shaver ordered a schedule for furnishing expert witness reports and discovery. On March 6, 2017 an Order was filed of a final settlement between Resh, Gondor and the State of Ohio for a total of $4,018,100. Randy Resh was paid $1,452,701.80, Robert Gondor was paid $1,447,298.20, their attorneys Mark B. Marein and Steven L. Bradley were paid $1,100,00 for their professional fees and expenses, and experts Rbert T. Glickman was paid $4,500, Gerald J. Lynch was paid $4,200, and Vocational Experts of Ohio was paid $9,400. So the total amount the State of Ohio paid Resh in 2015 and 2017 was $1,880,155, and Gondor was paid a total of $1,869,347.80." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 26, 2006, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ordered a new trial for both men, based on ineffective assistance of counsel by the failure of the men's lawyers to present exonerating evidence during their trial. Randy Resh was acquitted after a retrial on April 18, 2007. The charges against Gondor were dismissed nine days after Resh's acquittal." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$1,869,347.80 total. $422,049.60 (State of Ohio, Dec. 15, 2015) and $1,447,298.20 (State of Ohio, March 6, 2017)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
24 |
Age When Released: |
43 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Resh not guilty; state accepts verdict, By Ed Meyer, Akron Beacon-Journal, April 18, 2007" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17097056.htm |
Information Source 2: |
"State v. Gondor, 860 N.E.2d 77, 112 Ohio St.3d 377 (Ohio 12-26-2006)" |
Information Location 2: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1796006192990407722&q=State+v.+Gondor,+860+N.E.2d+77,+112+Ohio+St.3d+377&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 3: |
"Gondor and Resh Timeline, Akron Beacon-Journal, January 25, 2007" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/16544355.htm |
Information Source 4: |
"Robert Gondor and Randy Resh v. State of Ohio, No. 2015-00921-WI (Ohio Ct. of Claims) (12-21-2015 judgment ordering payment of 50% of anticipated total award.)" |
Information Location 4: |
http://cases.ohiocourtofclaims.gov/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/streamfile.p?Serial=151027001399593&Seq=1 |
Information Source 5: |
"Robert Gondor and Randy Resh v. State of Ohio, No. 2015-00921-WI (Ohio Ct. of Claims) (3-6-2017 judgment ordering payment of final settlement.)" |
Information Location 5: |
http://cases.ohiocourtofclaims.gov/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/streamfile.p?Serial=170306001437135&Seq=1 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org