A LEADING supporter of Kenny Richey, the Scot who has spent more than 20 years on death row in the US, yesterday revealed she was "nervous" after hearing he will be retried.

Richey's conviction for murder over a fire that killed a two-year-old girl in Ohio was overturned last month, but a prosecutor decided the Edinburgh-raised former US marine should face a new trial after talks with the victim's family.

Richey, 43, who was born to a Scottish mother and an American father, has always claimed he is innocent.

Margo MacDonald, the independent Lothians MSP, said: "I'm still just a bit nervous about the process in Ohio."

MacDonald, who has campaigned on Richey's behalf for several years, said: "I'm particularly aware of the very suspect nature of the forensic evidence that convicted Kenny." She added that any inadequacies discovered in the procedures used at the time could have implications for other Ohio cases.

"I think most people could then see how the decisions of that whole era could be called into question, not just Kenny's case. That and the death or disappearance of witnesses does, I think, make for more uncertainty than I would like."

However, Richey's lawyer Ken Parsigian, who did not represent him at his original trial, believes the state's case will be tough to prove 21 years later. Witnesses have died, become incapacitated or cannot be found, he said.

"This is kind of an odd decision," Parsigian said. "Their case has gotten dramatically weaker and ours has gotten dramatically stronger."

Richey, who is said to be "absolutely delighted" wrote on a website dedicated to his case: "This is what I have waited for, for so long. I want the world to know I am an innocent man and they will know this by the end of this trial."

It is still possible that the prosecution may offer a deal rather than have a trial, but Richey said: "It would be a waste of time them even asking. I have not sat on death row for 21 years proclaiming my innocence to take any deal now."

Richey added: "I am coming home to Scotland as soon as I can - that is my home, it is where I belong."

A spokesman for the attorney-general said no decisions had been made on the charges against Richey or whether the state would seek the death penalty.