LISBON — A Wellsville man’s request to have his September 2023 rape conviction and life sentence vacated or set aside has been denied.

Spencer Kidder, 72, had the petition filed on his behalf recently by his appellate attorney Rhys Cartwright-Jones. Last year he lost his appeal to the Seventh District Court of Appeals and just before the year ended, the Ohio Supreme Court declined jurisdiction to hear his appeal of that decision.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton issued her ruling on the petition to vacate or set aside judgment of conviction or sentence, finding that “there are no substantive grounds for relief.”

The petition to vacate called for an order vacating the conviction and sentence, granting a new trial or granting an evidentiary hearing and other relief.

Grounds for relief listed in the petition include ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and post-judgment, violations related to alleged failure to disclose certain materials such as expert reports, bench notes, worksheets, drafts and methodology materials, confrontation clause and due process violations, improper expert testimony and vouching, alleged newly discovered or newly-appreciated evidence and cumulative error.

Bickerton said no to everything requested. She noted that she made the decision to deny the petition based on a thorough review of the petition, supporting affidavit, documentary evidence (none was submitted), all files and records pertaining to the proceedings, the indictment, the court’s journal entries, the journalized records of the clerk of court and the court reporter’s transcript.

In her ruling, she wrote that the defendant failed to meet his burden to prove any of his accusations, including newly discovered or newly appreciated evidence supporting relief or an evidentiary hearing. The defendant claimed in an affidavit that his appellate rights and procedure were not explained to him, but the court said she failed to see how that was newly discovered evidence because he was advised of his right to appeal on the record during the sentencing hearing.

He also claimed he was cumulatively prejudiced, pointing to what he claimed was his trial counsel’s failure to inform him of his appellate rights. Bickerton wrote that he failed to acknowledge that the trial court informed him of his right to appeal and that he did file an appeal which was heard and denied by a three-judge panel.

Some of the same claims were made during the appeal to the Seventh District Court of Appeals. The appeal claimed the trial court erred by allowing testimony which violated the confrontation clause and hearsay rule. The appeal also claimed the defendant had ineffective assistance from his attorney for failing to object to hearsay statements and there wasn’t enough evidence to support his conviction.

The Seventh District Court of Appeals ruled against the defendant’s claims and affirmed the conviction.

A jury found Spencer Kidder guilty on Sept. 21, 2023 of four counts of rape, a first-degree felony, two counts of sexual battery, a second-degree felony, and a single count of third-degree felony gross sexual imposition.

The first two rape charges covered the time period when the boy was under 10 years old from Jan 1, 2014 through July 16, 2018, with the other two rape charges covering the time after age 10 and under age 13 from July 17, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2020. The time period for the two counts of sexual battery and single count of gross sexual imposition all covered Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2020.

Bickerton sentenced him immediately to life in prison without the possibility of parole for each of the first two rapes, to be served concurrently to each other, then 10 years to life for the other two rapes to be served concurrently to each other but consecutive to the life without parole term, then an additional five years for the gross sexual imposition. The sentence for the sexual battery charges was merged as part of the rape sentence.

At the time, he was advised by the judge of his right to appeal, but no appeal was filed within the required 30-day timeframe by the end of October 2023.

The Seventh District Court of Appeals, however, granted his request to file a delayed appeal after he made the request in December 2024, 14 months after his conviction. Then the appeal was denied and the appellate court agreed with the conviction and sentence issued by Bickerton.