Ohio Woman on Death Row
Donna Roberts Previously Asked for Death Penalty, Now Changes Mind
Roberts, now 64, was convicted in 2001 for the murder of her husband, Robert Fingerhut, 59, of Howland Township outside of Warren. According to prosecutors, Roberts was having an affair with Nathaniel Jackson, 34, of Youngstown and planned the murder in order to acquire a $550,000 insurance policy on Fingerhut's life. Jackson allegedly shot Fingerhut twice in the back and once in the head inside the home of Roberts and Fingerhut. Jackson's appeal was also heard in mid-2005, and the ruling was announced in February of 2006 by the Ohio Supreme Court. His murder conviction and death sentence were upheld.
Roberts Requested the Death Penalty
During her trial, Roberts told the court she wanted the death penalty. The jury's wishes echoed Roberts; they recommended she be executed. A death sentence made Roberts the first woman in Ohio since 1991 to be sent to death row.
“We don’t know what she was thinking,” said the defendant’s attorney, David Doughten, while in court. He added that Roberts was deeply depressed at the time and that just because she is an educated woman, it does not mean that she understood the law.
“At no time did the judge in this court sit down with her and even address the right for her to testify, cross examine… she waived all those rights. They were not even addressed,” Doughten said.
The defense attorney argued that his client did not fully understand her rights or what waiving litigation would do. Trumbull County assistant prosecutor LuWayne Annos, however, disagrees.
At a press conference after the hearing, Annos said that Roberts’ attorneys at her trial were the “cream of the crop” and “the best that money can buy.”
Roberts' Reasoning for Death Penalty Request Remains Unclear
Roberts’ intelligence was not in question at the hearing, but her competence was.
“Your client is not stupid,” said Justice Paul E. Pfeifer to Doughten, regarding Roberts’ comments to the jury. At the time, Roberts had said to the court, “I have my reasons for doing this.”
Roberts did not clearly state what her reasons were, but her attorney said he speculates that her motives were to prove racism in this country. She, as a wealthy, educated white woman, insisted on the death penalty since her younger African American accomplice in the murder had already been sentenced to death.
“The defendant in this case clearly wanted the death penalty. She made that clear to judge, her counsel and her jury,” Annos said, stating that Roberts had called no one to the stand in her behalf.
Roberts Had no Criminal History Prior to Husband's Murder
Other issues the defense raised were missing notes regarding the final ruling between the prior prosecution team and the sentencing judge. The notes, whose impact on the trial’s outcome was debatable, could not be produced at the time of the Ohio Supreme Court’s hearing.
The defense attorney recommended that Roberts, who had no criminal history prior to the 2001 murder, be subject to a new hearing to possibly reverse the death penalty sentence. Doughten said that the sentence options of life with or without parole were not explained to his client. The prosecution disagrees and argues that the current ruling should stick.
“You asked for it, you got it,” said Annos of Robert’s earlier request. “The defendant clearly wanted the death penalty.”
Donna Marie Roberts' Mug Shot
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