WARREN — A Trumbull County death row inmate will return to Trumbull County Common Pleas court after an appeals court ruled in favor of allowing Nathaniel Jackson to be resentenced.

The decision was made by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati in a ruling, issued by a three-judge panel consisting of Judge Richard Allen Griffin, Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., and Judge Karen Nelson Moore, which stemmed from a habeas corpus petition filed by Jackson.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office, led by Solicitor General T. Elliot Gaiser, plans to request a 30-day extension to seek a full review by the 6th Circuit in an effort to reverse the decision. Gaiser informed Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins of the upcoming extension request last week, warning that the ruling could endanger other death penalty cases in Ohio and within the 6th Circuit’s jurisdiction. Gaiser noted that two of the judges on the panel had ruled previously to overturn another death sentence, which was later reversed by a full 6th Circuit review.

Watkins, who originally prosecuted Jackson, supported Gaiser’s move, criticizing the 6th Circuit’s decision as “undue interference” in state court matters. He described the ruling as an example of federal overreach, arguing that the Ohio Supreme Court already had upheld Jackson’s death sentence after correcting any procedural errors.

Jackson, 52, was convicted of conspiring with Donna Roberts to murder her ex-husband, Robert Fingerhut, in 2001. The murder plan, developed while Jackson was still incarcerated, involved Jackson breaking into Fingerhut’s Howland home and fatally shooting him shortly after Jackson’s release from prison. Jackson and Roberts were sentenced to death in 2002.

Watkins emphasized the strength of the case against Jackson, noting that it was the strongest death penalty case he had prosecuted and successfully argued before the Ohio Supreme Court.

The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office said they will not comment further on the case, which is now being handled by the Ohio Solicitor General’s office.