A man who previously bragged about sexually assaulting hundreds of women is going to be granted a new trial, according to the Franklin County Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals ruled the January 2018 conviction of Edwin Zimmerman is reversed.
The appeal was filed after a juror mistakenly glimpsed at a photo of the knife on the prosecutor's laptop that was not introduced as evidence.
Zimmerman's attorney argued that was enough to throw out his conviction and grant a new trial.
Zimmerman was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted in October 2017.
He was only out of prison for six months on December 31, 2016, when prosecutors say he picked up a woman on the south side of Columbus, drove her to a remote area, and pulled a knife on her.
The Court of Appeals agreed with the court’s original decision to allow a statement to be read addressing the accidental viewing of the photo but did not agree with the court’s decision to exclude the statement. The Court of Appeals ruled that Zimmerman should have been granted a new trial.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien says his office plans on appealing the decision and retrying the case if need be.
"A lot of things happen during a trial to prevent it from being a perfect trial, but you are only entitled to a fair trial, not a perfect trial. When you balance it out, he did have a fair trial," O'Brien said.
Zimmerman's attorneys said in a statement, "He did not receive a fair trial for cumulative reasons."
The prosecutor's office has until the end of the week to file their appeal, then it could take the appellate court about a month to make their decision.
Zimmerman is at the London Correctional Institute. He is expected to be transferred to Franklin County during the appeals process.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: