On 15 July 1986, police went to the home of John McGrath, an 82-year-old white man, in order to check on his welfare. They had been alerted that another man had been seen driving McGrath's car the day before. The eyewitness, a trained artist, made a sketch of the man she had seen in the car. She later identified Gregory Lott from a photo line-up.

The police found John McGrath in his home. He had been tied up, doused with heating-lamp oil, and apparently set on fire. Although badly injured, he was able to identify his assailant as a six-foot tall, very light-complexioned African-American man, with long straight hair. He also said that he and his attacker went to the same barber shop. When shown the witness sketch, he did not identify the man depicted as his attacker.

John McGrath died on 23 July from pneumonia arising from his injuries. Gregory Lott was arrested on 30 July. His fingerprints had been found in John McGrath's home, and a shoeprint was found that was generally consistent with a pair of shoes found in his car at the time of the arrest. In an alleged statement, which was not written or signed by Lott or recorded or witnessed by anyone except the police officer who allegedly took it, Lott admitted to burgling McGrath's home on this occasion and previously, and to tying him up, but not to burning him. The 'confession' was ruled inadmissible as evidence. Lott waived his right to a jury trial. In July 1987, a three-judge panel unanimously sentenced him to death.

Concerns:

1. Gregory Lott has consistently maintained his innocence of the murder, while admitting that he burgled the house.

2. The Ohio Supreme Court acknowledged in 1990 that Lott had been convicted of the murder on circumstantial evidence, and in 2001, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said that 'this is the most troubling aspect of the case'.

3. There is concern that the Department of Corrections determined Gregory Lott's IQ to be 72. The US Supreme Court ruled on June 20, 2002 that the death penalty for people with mental retardation is unconstiutional.

4. The prosecutor did not turn over to the defense the description that John McGrath had given police, or his belief that he and his attacker went to the same barber, or the information that McGrath had not identified his assailant from the sketch. The defense was therefore denied important evidence with which to contest the prosecution's version of events.

 

5. Gregory Lott's previous appeal lawyer discovered the withheld evidence in 1991. However, he failed to present it in the state appeal courts. His failure to do so has meant that federal courts have not reviewed it.