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Man Whose Death Sentence Overturned Gets 26 Years to Life
By: Associated Press
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MARION, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio man whose 1994 death sentence for the rape and slaying of a woman was overturned has been resentenced to 26 years to life in prison.
A federal appeals court overturned Maurice Mason’s death sentence in 2008 and ordered the new sentencing that occurred Monday in Marion County. The appeals court ruled Mason had ineffective legal help during the penalty phase of his trial in 19-year-old Robin Dennis’ slaying. Her body was found in an abandoned building in 1993.
Marion County prosecutors said they didn’t seek the death penalty in Monday’s sentencing partly in an agreement with the defense and in an effort to give Dennis’ family “closure.”
Judge William Finnegan accepted the prosecutors’ and defense attorneys’ recommendation in sentencing 55-year-old Mason on Monday.