Man convicted of shooting, killing Twinsburg police officer wants death sentence voided
AKRON, Ohio (WJW) – Fifteen years after he shot and killed Twinsburg police officer Joshua Miktarian, Ashford Thompson is seeking to exchange his death penalty for life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Thompson’s attorneys went before Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison Breaux on Monday, as prosecutors discussed the scheduling of a psychological evaluation granted by the court.
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They claim Thompson suffers serious mental illness, a delusional disorder that renders his death sentence void.
He was evaluated by a psychiatrist earlier this year. She brought up the question of whether or not Thompson was exaggerating his condition for the purpose of escaping his sentence.
Summit County prosecutors on Monday named a new specialist who has expertise in evaluating whether or not an individual is “malingering.”
Thompson shot and killed Miktarian in July 2008, after he was pulled over in an early morning traffic stop because his boom box was too loud.
In a struggle that followed, Miktarian was shot multiple times, including a point blank shot in his head as he already lay lifeless on the ground.
Thompson said he reacted as he did because he felt the officer and his K-9 were threatening to him.
In an apology before sentencing in 2010, he told the court “a cold blooded killer, I wasn’t raised like that. I can’t imagine that kind of pain.”
When addressing Thompson in court, Holly Miktarian, the officer’s widow, said she believed his entire apology was nothing but an act, noting several recorded telephone conversations from jail in which Thompson showed no remorse for the crime.
In this latest filing, his attorneys on Monday were asking the court for at least a seven day notice of when the new psychological evaluation would take place, explaining they wanted to give Thompson a “heads-up”
“We would also like if at all possible to know about, and we know it won’t be an exact, about how long an estimate the evaluation would be and what the tests are that doctor [James Pontau] is going to be doing and again this is to give our client a heads up,” said defense attorney Elise Wander.
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Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Brian Loprenzi objected to revealing details of the test.
Prosecutors said they would work with Dr. Pontau and the department of corrections to schedule the evaluation.
Thompson was scheduled to die in 2017, but his execution was postponed by the Ohio Supreme Court while he continues to file appeals.
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