Ex-death row inmate to discuss death penalty

3/3/2012

Joe D'Ambrosio, a former Ohio death row inmate, will speak on "Innocence and the Death Penalty" at 6:30 p.m. March 15 at Corpus Christi University Parish, 2955 Dorr St., Toledo. The talk is free and open to the public.

Mr. D'Ambrosio, 50, was convicted of a murder in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood in 1989 and sentenced to death, but the conviction was overturned by a federal court that said prosecutors withheld evidence from defense attorneys that could have exonerated him.

A Catholic priest, the Rev. Neil Kookoothe, who was a spiritual adviser to Mr. D'Ambrosio and other death-row inmates, helped bring attention to unresolved issues that led to the conviction being overturned.

The presentation is sponsored by Catholic Charities of the Toledo Diocese. Information: 419-244-6711.