Cleveland Cop Killer Put Back On Death Row

An appeals court on Thursday returned Quisi Bryan to death row after ruling that a federal judge improperly overturned his murder convictions in the 2000 killing of a Cleveland police officer, reports Cleveland.com .

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled 2-1 that Senior U.S. District Judge James Carr in Toledo erred when he wrote in 2015 that Cuyahoga County prosecutors improperly moved to remove a prospective black juror from Bryan's trial because of her race.

Bryan, 46, was convicted of multiple crimes for shooting police officer Wayne Leon in the face on June 25, 2000, after the officer pulled him over for a traffic violation in Cleveland's Central neighborhood. Leon, 32, died instantly, and Bryan fled and was captured in Columbus.

Bryan is being held at a prison in Chillicothe.

Both County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine praised the 6th Circuit's ruling.

McGinty said in a statement that "the purposeful, cold-blooded murder of Patrolman Wayne Leon was a crime against every member of this community.