Defense attorneys wasted time challenging evidence against a Cleveland man who killed 11 women and hid the remains in and around his home and should have focused instead on sparing him from a death sentence, according to arguments before the Ohio Supreme Court.
New lawyers for Anthony Sowell say a better strategy would have been to concede Sowell's overwhelming guilt and push for life without parole based on his background, including a chaotic childhood.
Sowell's attorneys "repeatedly directed the jurors' attention to gruesome and painfully damning evidence," according to a 2012 filing by attorneys Jeffrey Gamso and Erika Cunliffe.
