Madrigal's appeal of life term is rejected

12/6/2008

The appeal of Jamie Madrigal, who is serving a 126-years-to-life prison sentence for robbery and murder, was denied in a decision released yesterday by Ohio's 6th District Court of Appeals.

Sentenced in January, 2007, to two consecutive life terms, Madrigal was convicted for the aggravated murder of Misty Fisher and the robbery of the KFC where she worked in April, 1996, as well as the aggravated murder of Larry Loose, a dishwasher at the former Pacific Crab House in Maumee who was killed during an April, 1995, robbery.

In a plea agreement reached after his original conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court, Madrigal avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

In his appeal filed Dec. 26, 2007, Madrigal's attorneys argued two points:

• That the six sentences he received for kidnapping - convictions related to holding several Crab House workers at gunpoint - should not have been consecutive in order to be similar to Madrigal's co-defendant.

•That Madrigal's aggravated robbery convictions should be overturned because of a recent Ohio Supreme Court

decision that states an indictment is defective unless it addresses the mindset of the offender.

The appellate court found the arguments not well-taken, saying that the trial court had discretion in stacking the sentences and that because Madrigal was convicted of aggravated robbery and not robbery, the recent Supreme Court decision does not apply.