Man resentenced for slaying of Ohio trooper

5/31/2013

COLUMBUS — A central Ohio man initially sentenced to death for the 1996 slaying of a state trooper will now spend the rest of his life in prison instead.

Maxwell White Jr.’s death sentence was overturned in 2005 when a federal court ruled the trial court had erred by allowing a juror biased in favor of the death penalty to be seated in the case.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that a three-judge panel this week resentenced the 47-year-old White to a life term without the possibility of parole for 30 years.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that White could again face the death penalty at his resentencing, but a plea agreement led to the life-prison sentence.

White fatally shot trooper James Gross during a traffic stop in January 1996.