( Court Reports - Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)
PARKERSBURG — A man who was convicted in a 1983 murder is seeking to have his conviction overturned, even after leading authorities to the body in 2018.
Mark Hanna appeared before Wood County Circuit Judge J.D. Beane on Friday for a habeas hearing to have his conviction in the murder of Leslie Diane Marty overturned.
In the paperwork filed at Wood County Circuit Court, Hanna claimed “constitutional errors existed in his prior trials and related proceedings which required reversal of conviction and/or other remedies.”
Hanna was convicted in March 1985 of kidnapping, burglary and breaking and entering. In 1996, Hanna became eligible for parole and was indicted for the murder of Marty. Following a trial, he was convicted on May 21, 1998, of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2018, Hanna revealed to law enforcement that Marty’s body was buried at the former Shell Chemical Employee Park. An excavation was performed and skeletal remains of the 21-year-old Parkersburg woman were found and identified through dental records.
In his court paperwork, Hanna said his attorney had not fulfilled any of his contracted duties.
Hanna claims he has been denied effective assistance of counsel arising from his attorney’s failure to provide contracted work on his behalf in regards to investigating or discovering evidence in his possession and in the underlying circuit court felony record, failure to attend scheduled hearings and other errors.
“(The attorney’s) unreasonable failures have frustrated the Petitioner’s and the Court’s diligent efforts to bring this case to a final determinative conclusion,” according to paperwork filed in court. “(The attorney’s) failures have literally increased the costs of litigation, wasted everyone’s time and has single-handedly caused this case to drag on for years when it should have been resolved in a matter of months long ago.”
Hanna is accusing his attorney of “impedance and fraudulent scheme” to take the money he was paid and “run.”
Hanna is asking the court for “his unconditional release from custody and (to) hold the sentence imposed unenforceable.”
Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure said Hanna is claiming his counsel was ineffective and Hanna is claiming the court made some wrong decisions in the original trial.
Harry Deitzler, who was the prosecutor in the original case and the special prosecutor for the murder trial, was called as a witness to testify about different aspects of a plea deal offered to Hanna and his attorney which ended up being turned down by Hanna before going to trial.
Beane did not rule on the matter Friday and is expected to rule at a later date, court officials said.