Attorneys for former Akron police captain Douglas Prade have appealed a judge’s decision to deny him a new trial.
David Alden, Prade’s attorney with the Ohio Innocence Project, filed the appeal Thursday with the Ninth District Court of Appeals.
“As promised, we’re appealing,” Alden said Thursday afternoon in a phone interview. “We’re exploring all remedies.”
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Chris Croce denied Prade a new trial last month, saying Prade had “failed to introduce any new evidence that the jury had not already considered during the 1998 trial.” She said the DNA evidence that another judge found should exonerate Prade was “meaningless” and likely wouldn’t change the verdict in a new trial.
Prade, 70, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 1997 shooting death of his ex-wife, Margo Prade, that happened inside her van at the parking lot of her Wooster Avenue medical office.
Prade was seeking a new trial based on DNA evidence that excluded his genetic markers from the most scrutinized evidence in the case — a bite mark impression left under two layers of a lab coat worn by Dr. Prade on the morning of the slaying.
In January 2013, Prade was freed from prison after Summit County Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter ruled the DNA evidence proved his innocence. An appeal by prosecutors sent him back to prison in October 2014.
Croce’s long-awaited decision focused on whether Prade should be granted a new trial based on the new DNA evidence, forensic odontology — the study of bite-mark evidence —and eye-witness testimony. She heard oral arguments in June.
Alden said DNA evidence found near a bite mark on Margo Prade’s coat and under four of her fingernails excludes Douglas Prade from the act — though the man the DNA belongs to hasn’t been identified. He also questioned the reliability of matching teeth marks found beneath two layers of clothing on Margo Prade’s body.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Brad Gessner, however, argued the bite mark and DNA wouldn’t be enough to sway a future jury.
Croce agreed. She dismissed the relevance of the new evidence, repeatedly saying it “does not disclose a strong probability that a different verdict would be reached if a new trial is granted.”
In addition to the Ninth District appeal, Alden said Thursday that he may file a writ in the Ohio Supreme Court that will argue Hunter’s original trial order should not have been set aside.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.