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Court rejects inmate’s challenge in 5 Ohio prison slayings

Appeals court rejected challenge by inmate convicted and sentenced to be executed for the slayings of five fellow inmates during riot in Ohio

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This undated photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections shows Keith LaMar.

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections via AP

Associated Press

CINCINNATI — A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge by an inmate convicted and sentenced to be executed for the slayings of five fellow inmates during a 1993 prison riot in Ohio.

Death row inmate Keith LaMar was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 in the deaths of five inmatesduring the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. A jury recommended the death penalty in four of the slayings.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s decision keeping the 46-year-old LaMar’s convictions and death sentences in place.

LaMar argues he was denied a fair trial when prosecutors were allowed to withhold evidence from the defense.

A three-judge panel ruled the evidence would not have changed the outcome of LaMar’s trial.