|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on May 13, 2010 11:07:25 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on May 13, 2010 11:08:38 GMT -5
Killer of Toledo store owner gets execution date The Ohio Supreme Court has set an execution date for the man who killed a downtown Toledo store owner in 1994. Johnnie R. Baston, 36, is scheduled to die on March 10, 2011 for the murder of Chong Mah, the owner of Continental Wigs N'Things, on March 21, 1994. The store owner was found dead inside the business which he owned with his wife. He was found with a gun shot wound to the back of the head, later determined to have been inflicted from a range of two to three inches. Baston was arrested days after the murder and was found carrying the gun used in the murder along with stolen merchandise from inside the store. The then suspect initially confessed to robbing the store owner, but blamed the murder on an accomplice named "Ray". Just 21-years-old at the time, Baston was found guilty on two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated robbery with a gun specification in Feb. 2005, the same month a panel sentenced the killer to death. In 2005, Baston was denied appeal of his sentence. He is scheduled to die via the state of Ohio's lethal injection method. More; www.toledoonthemove.com/news/story.aspx?id=456072 |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on May 14, 2010 12:52:20 GMT -5
Toledo native facing March execution date The line leading into Ohio's execution chamber now extends around the corner into March, 2011, with the setting of a date for the man convicted of killing a downtown Toledo merchant 16 years ago. Johnnie Baston, 36, faces Ohio's lethal injection gurney on March 10 as the state's Supreme Court Wednesday continued its recent practice of scheduling executions at the pace of roughly one per month. Baston was convicted in the execution-style slaying of Chong Hoon Mah, a 53-year-old Korean immigrant who owned Continental Wigs N' Things Shoppe, during a March 21, 1994, robbery. Baston admitted to the robbery after he was arrested in Columbus with the gun used in the slaying and after police found stolen items in his apartment. But he claimed that an accomplice named "Ray" took Mr. Mah into the rear of the store and shot him. Baston is on death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary at Youngstown. "Since his sentence and conviction, Baston's attorneys have pursued all available avenues of appeal afforded under both Ohio and federal law. Every court that has examined Baston's claims has upheld his murder conviction and death sentence," Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates stated in her motion urging the state's high court to set a date. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Toledo native's appeal in 2006. But the state Supreme Court at that time rejected the state's request that it immediately set an execution date. Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol was then under challenge in federal court. After several problematic executions, including one in which Gov. Ted Strickland took the unprecedented step of halting an execution in progress, Ohio revamped its execution protocol. The state switched to a one-drug process, essentially a massive overdose of a powerful barbiturate. This time when the state again asked the court to set a date, it did. Ohio Assistant Public Defender Tyson Fleming had urged the court not to schedule the execution, noting that Baston is still a party to a related case pending in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that challenges the state's one-drug protocol. "They've botched executions in the past," he said. "They're still using the same people to administer it and find vein access. That's never been changed. All they did was change the drug." Barring clemency from the governor or intervention from a court, Baston will be executed at 10 a.m. on March 10 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. With yesterday's execution of the "homicidal hitchhiker" - Michael Bueke, 48, of Hamilton County - Ohio has put five inmates to death so far in 2010. That number could reach eight by August, which would set a record for the most in a single year since Ohio resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1999. That record could be broken again in September, October, and November. No executions are scheduled for December, 2010, or January, 2011. The court has set a February execution date for Frank Spisak, convicted of killing three people in the Cleveland area. toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100514/NEWS24/5140346 |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Jan 13, 2011 10:05:33 GMT -5
Clemency pitch to Gov. Kasich nears for convicted Toledoan Baston faces March 10 execution for '94 slaying Convicted murderer Johnnie Baston will get his chance to make a pitch for mercy from Gov. John Kasich through the Ohio Parole Board on Feb. 3. Baston faces execution March 10 for the robbery-slaying of Chong Hoon Mah, 53, a Korean immigrant shopkeeper, in downtown Toledo in 1994. During the 9 a.m. clemency hearing, Baston's attorney, as well as family and friends, will have the opportunity to urge the parole board to recommend the new governor intercede in the execution. It's uncertain whether the state would be able to proceed with the execution on March 10 even without gubernatorial intervention. Ohio and other states have had trouble finding adequate supplies of sodium thiopental, the sedative used in Ohio executions. Ohio's first execution of the year is scheduled for Feb. 17 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. Frank Spisak, 59, was convicted of killing three people at Cleveland State University in 1982. After several problematic executions, including one in which Gov. Ted Strickland took the unprecedented step of halting an execution that was already in progress, Ohio dropped its protocol of using a combination of three drugs to execute inmates. It now uses a massive overdose of the sedative, which is in short supply. Some states have turned to overseas suppliers to fill the gap. Baston had admitted to the robbery of the Continental Wigs N' Things Shoppe on March 21, 1994, after he was arrested in Columbus with the gun used in the slaying. But he claimed an accomplice named "Ray" was the one who pulled the trigger. Baston will not be allowed to attend the clemency hearing, which will occur five days before his 33rd birthday. He will, however, be given the opportunity to be interviewed by a member of the parole board who then would report back to the full board. More; toledoblade.com/article/20110113/NEWS16/101120390/-1/NEWS24 |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Jan 19, 2011 10:21:53 GMT -5
Clemency pitch to Gov. Kasich nears for convicted Toledoan Convicted murderer Johnnie Baston will get his chance to make a pitch for mercy from Gov. John Kasich through the Ohio Parole Board on Feb. 3. Baston faces execution March 10 for the robbery-slaying of Chong Hoon Mah, 53, a Korean immigrant shopkeeper, in downtown Toledo in 1994. More;www.toledoblade.com/article/20110113/NEWS16/101120390 |
|
|
|
Post by guest on Jan 29, 2011 21:37:00 GMT -5
Clemency Hearing Scheduled for Johnnie Baston The Ohio Parole Board will conduct a death penalty clemency hearing for inmate Johnnie Baston, #308-174, on Thursday, February 3, 2011, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The hearing will be held at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) Central Office location at 770 West Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio. www.drc.ohio.gov/Public/press/press394.htm |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Feb 2, 2011 10:32:01 GMT -5
Killer to ask Ohio governor to spare his life Family of '94 Toledo victim is against March execution The family of Johnnie Baston's victim doesn't want him executed, so neither should the state of Ohio, Baston's attorneys will argue Thursday in hopes of convincing Gov. John Kasich to show him mercy. More; toledoblade.com/article/20110202/NEWS24/102010413Slain Ohio man's family opposes inmate's execution The family of an Ohio storekeeper fatally shot in the head during a 1994 robbery opposes the upcoming execution of the man convicted of the crime, arguing it won't change anything and they're satisfied with a life sentence. More; www.ohio.com/news/break_news/115886059.html |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Feb 13, 2011 15:46:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Feb 13, 2011 15:47:36 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Feb 25, 2011 1:17:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 3, 2011 19:21:56 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 5, 2011 12:46:30 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 5, 2011 12:52:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 8, 2011 0:19:03 GMT -5
A Toledo man will soon die by lethal injection. Monday, family and friends traveled to see death row inmate Johnnie Baston while people against capital punishment protested in Toledo. They protested at the courthouse for about an hour. Baston spent the day talking and hugging with dozens of family and friends who traveled to Youngstown to see him. Baston is scheduled to die Thursday. He was convicted of killing a store owner in 1995. The 37 year old maintains he didn't kill Chong Mah. Monday morning, his family and friends traveled to the Ohio penitentiary in Youngstown to visit him Wayne Henderson is Baston's former youth minister. He recalled the day Baston was arrested at a youth conference in Columbus for the crime. He says, "Johnnie never caused us any problems at all and to be involved in something like this, it was just a set back." Baston will be the first inmate to be lethally injected by a new adopted drug called pentabarital; a drug used to induce comas and euthanize pets. Protestors against capital punishment rallied in downtown Toledo Monday. Anti-execution activist and Baston's family and friends are holding onto their faith that the Toledo man won't be executed. Baston will be transferred to the death house in Lucasville 24 hours before he's scheduled to die. He's selected no special meal and will get a last visit with his daughter, son, mother and other family members. Then he'll take 17 steps to the death chamber. More; abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=8000099 |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 10, 2011 11:10:37 GMT -5
Ohio executes inmate with new death penalty drug Ohio has put to death the killer of a Toledo store owner with the country's first-ever use of pentobarbital as a stand-alone execution drug. Johnnie Baston was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m. by warden Donald Morgan at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. The 37-year-old Baston was sentenced to die for the 1994 shooting of Chong Mah, owner of Continental Wigs N' Things in downtown Toledo. Oklahoma also uses pentobarbital, but in combination with other drugs that paralyze inmates and stop their hearts. www.ohio.com/news/break_news/117735678.htmlOhio Executes Inmate With New Death-Penalty Drug www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/mar/10/9/ohio-plans-1st-use-new-solo-execution-drug-ar-419400/ |
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 10, 2011 20:49:40 GMT -5
Ohio sees country's first use of new lethal injection drug Ohio put to death a Toledo store owner's killer Thursday with the country's first use of the surgical sedative pentobarbital as a stand-alone execution drug. Johnnie Baston was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m., about 13 minutes after the 5-gram dose of the drug began flowing into his arms. About a minute into the execution, Baston appeared to gasp, grimace and wince, but then he was quickly still. In a 5-minute final statement, Baston said the governor should have respected the opposition of his victim's family to the death penalty and commuted his sentence to life without parole. Baston also said he made a bad decision and said he hoped both his family and that of his victim could move on. He asked his brothers, both of whom were witnesses, to watch out for his teenage children as they grow up. "I want you to tell them stories about me," Baston said. "I want them to know the good things about me." Baston, who grew tearful at times, also said he had hoped he wouldn't cry. "It's OK. It's OK," said his brother, Ron Baston. "You can cry." A few minutes later, as the drugs began to flow, Ron Baston stood up and slammed his fist against a wall dividing the viewing area, the noise loud enough to draw the attention of warden Donald Morgan on the other side of the viewing glass. "Easy, sir," a prison guard said. Such a physical outburst is unprecedented in Ohio's 40-plus executions. More; www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/03/10/ohio-executes-inmate-new-death-penalty-drug/ |
|
|
|
Post by guest on Mar 11, 2011 10:53:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by guest on Mar 11, 2011 10:56:40 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 12, 2011 23:07:25 GMT -5
Baston put to death for merchant's slaying As his brothers wept, Johnnie Roy Baston became the first inmate in the nation Thursday to be executed solely by a massive overdose of the powerful anesthetic pentobarbital. More; toledoblade.com/local/2011/03/11/Baston-put-to-death-for-merchants-slaying.htmlEXCERPTS FROM JOHNNIE ROY BASTON’S FINAL STATEMENTI would like to say to my family I am very sorry. I know this is not what they wanted to have happen. I hope they won’t be too bothered by what is taking place today. It is not their doing. Just the way things go. I hope my execution, that it will be the last, that people will open up. The victims in my case didn’t want me to be executed. They wanted life without parole. That should have been respected. That should have been respected by our governor ... I made a bad decision and I hope my family can move on and find some comfort and peace. I would like to say I’m sorry to my family. I made a bad decision. I want you to reach out to my children. I love them so much. I want you to tell them stories about me. I want them to know the good things about me, even through my time in prison I wanted to better myself, encourage others. Remind them of that. My daughter, she’s quiet, a lot like me. Just like me. I want you to watch her. If she talks, listen. I want to thank all the members of my church, my friends who petitioned, letters, faxed, Twittered, hopefully, to the governor, to show mercy. For a long time I didn’t see a lot of value in myself. It wasn’t until this moment till I had to go through this ordeal that I have seen so much love from so many people. Letters from people all over the world, and even Ohio. I appreciate every last letter, I appreciate every last card, every last prayer, every last encouragement. I was hoping I didn’t cry. Dear heavenly father, I have sinned, and I repent of my sins, I pray for forgiveness. As I close my eyes on the light of this world, I hope to open my eyes to the light in heaven |
|
