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UPDATE 2:52 p.m. “It had been a crazy day, but you guys seem to forget, I spent 15 years in hell,” Prade tells the press as he departs Summit County Jail.

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UPDATE 1:37 p.m. Thursday: After winning a stay from the Ohio Supreme Court, Prade will be released from prison this afternoon.

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UPDATE 10:49 a.m. Thursday: Summit County Common Pleas Judge Christine Croce has ordered Prade back into custody. The former Akron police captain’s attorney says that threats have been made to him; the custody order is a protective one.

A hearing has been set for 10 a.m. on April 4 to determine whether Prade will be entitled to bail.

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Originally published March 19

The 9th District Court of Appeals issued a ruling today that reverses a Summit County ruling that in 2013 freed former Akron police captain Douglas Prade from prison.

“While the results of the post-1998 DNA testing appear at first glance to prove Prade’s innocence, the results, when viewed critically and taken to their logical end, only serve to generate more questions than answers,” the court writes.

In 2013, DNA evidence exonerated Prade of the grisly 1997 murder of his former wife, Dr. Margo Prade. He had previously served 15 years in prison for the crime. There’s no word yet no whether Prade will be ordered to return to prison immediately or when another hearing will be held.

Court ruling:

9th District Court of Appeals Reversal of Douglas Prade Ruling by sandyatscene

This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2014.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

2 replies on “Appellate Court Overturns Douglas Prade’s 2013 Innocence Ruling: UPDATE”

  1. The 9th District Court and the Summit County DA have failed the people of this community. Regardless of the circumstantial evidence, the presence of other male DNA on the bite mark left on Dr. Prade’s body at the time of her murder creates a virtually irrebuttable presumption that Prade is innocent. This defective verdict should not be defended out of fear that Prade will seek compensation for his wrongful incarceration or because the Summit County cops do not want a 15 year old open murder to investigate.

    The Ohio Supreme Court should reverse, and at a minimum, order a new trial.

    My deepest sympathies to Dr. Prade’s loved ones, who must now contend with the very real possibility that her murderer has never been caught, and that her children’s father has been wrongfully convicted.

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