More than 14,000 days after he was first convicted, Gregory Esparza walked out of Judge Stacy Cook’s courtroom in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Friday knowing he could soon be freed.
Esparza — convicted in 1984 of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery with gun specifications in the Feb. 12, 1983 shooting death of carryout clerk Melanie Gerschutz, and sentenced to death — has now had that death sentence officially vacated.
His new sentence of 30 years to life, handed down by Judge Cook at a hearing Friday, comes with credit for time served and the possibility of parole, meaning an as-yet unscheduled parole hearing could set Esparza free, his attorney Lori Riga explained.
This came after Judge Cook issued an opinion two months ago declaring unconstitutional the death penalty’s imposition in this case because prosecutors failed to disclose several pieces of evidence before Esparza’s original trial.
The missing evidence included a description of the gunman provided by a man working the Island Variety Carryout’s stockroom the night of the murder that did not match Esparza.
“God is good for everyone,” Esparza said to relatives sitting in the courtroom gallery as he was escorted back to Lucas County jail.
In her decision, Judge Cook acknowledged how difficult the entire matter was for all parties involved, focusing on the fact her role now was to correct wrongs previously made in the case by the legal system, which she described as sickening.
Esparza’s original jury made the right choice given the evidence presented to them, she said, but given the evidence that has come to since light since that verdict, her court needs to act accordingly.
“The state’s failure to disclose was not harmless because the error was not harmless,” Judge Cook said, reiterating that the U.S. Constitution mandated Esparza’s sentence be vacated. “All of what I have said lands with no feeling of justice for Melanie Gerschutz or her family. I feel your loss greatly.”
Friday’s proceedings included testimony from several others as well, including Ms. Riga, a Cleveland-based public defender; Marsha Raymond, daughter of the late Mrs. Gerschutz, and Esparza himself.
“What the court said in its opinion last November was no small feat,” Ms. Riga said in her statement. “It was not just a mere technicality, but the court found that the evidence taken as a whole shows that Esparza was not the actual killer.”
Ms. Riga noted how evidence showing Esparza was not a lone gunman first came to light in 1991, but the courts did nothing about it and she argued that because Esparza has been serving an unconstitutional sentence based on prosecutorial misconduct, his sentence should be lenient.
She even referenced Esparza’s troubled upbringing and how other judges in the case’s long history have said it should play a role in his ultimate sentencing.
“Greg grew up in poverty, he was physically assaulted by his father and his mom died of cancer when he was eight years old,” Ms. Riga said. “So tragic and horrendous was his childhood that when Judge Riley issued his sentencing opinion he wrote, ‘This court has encountered cases of more miserable upbringings, but praise God not often.’”
In their own testimonies, Esparza and Mrs. Raymond focused on the victim, Mrs. Gerschutz, then a 38-year-old wife and mother working the register at Island Variety, which sits in the same spot today in the 700 block of Dearborn Avenue in East Toledo.
Mrs. Gerschutz was shot and later died from her wounds over $110 stolen from its cash register.
“To Mrs. Gerschutz’s family, she is important. She is the center of everything, not me,” Esparza said before the court, choking up.
Esparza, 59, emphasized he was just 21 at the time of his conviction and a “confused, lost soul,” and said the rigors of being on Death Row for so long helped him mature.
“There have been rough times of cold and hunger, being chained and confined in solitary confinement in those 40 years. Nevertheless, I still dreamed of better things,” he said, mentioning the multitude of individuals like him in society dealing with drugs and poverty and saying that in a post-prison life he wants to help those people.
“God knows I am not a killer,” he said. “Even when offered life without parole if I gave up my appeals, I chose execution.”
Contrarily, Mrs. Raymond, a teenager at the time of her mother’s murder, pointed a finger squarely at Esparza, noting all the things her family had lost because her mother was gone.
After the original conviction, she said, the process became too much about Esparza. After reading posts of Esparza’s writings on a Facebook page his cousin keeps up and having spoken with people, she doubts he is remorseful.
“He committed murder in cold blood,” Mrs. Raymond said before the court. “I am so grateful that I had such an amazing mom, but unfortunately because of his actions my family fell apart. My dad couldn’t speak about my mom, and he [Esparza] talks about a young child being abused? My younger brother was six years old. He has no memories of my mother.”
Courtroom spectators listened intently and with minimal commotion throughout the proceedings, but Esparza’s family in particular breathed sighs of relief after gathering outside.
The impact of the moment was certainly not lost.
Kevin Urrutia, Esparza’s cousin who maintains Facebook page with Esparza’s updates on his musings and books he is reading, told The Blade his cousin has always maintained his innocence. While his assignment to the state prison in Lucasville coincided with notorious 1993 riots there, Mr. Urrutia noted, Esparza kept to himself and did not join in, keeping an eye on the future.
“He has never stopped saying ‘I didn’t do this,” Mr. Urrutia said. “Even during this riots he said, “I am not going to mess this up’ and he stayed in there.”
Julia Esparza, Esparza’s sister, said she felt a wave of emotions after hearing his re-sentencing as the 40-year justice process might soon be over.
“We are happy for this day. It has been very emotional,” she told The Blade after the hearing. “We appreciate the justice system.”
First Published January 20, 2023, 6:42 p.m.
