Post by thinkinkmesa on Apr 26, 2008 13:02:49 GMT -5
OH - Executions may resume by summer
Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:22 pm (PDT)
RESULT OF LETHAL-INJECTION RULING
Executions may resume by summer
Friday, April 25, 2008 3:22 AM
BY ALAN JOHNSON
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Nicole Diar, from Lorain County, could become the first woman
executed in Ohio since 1954.
For the first time since Ohio resumed executions in 1999, a woman is
among 27 Death Row inmates whose legal options are closing.
The Ohio public defender emphasizes that Nicole Diar of Lorain County
is not close to execution. But she could become the first woman
executed since Betty Butler from Hamilton County on June 11, 1954.
In fact, only two of 27 inmates whose cases were reviewed Tuesday by
the public defender's legal staff -- Richard Wade Cooey II of Summit
County and Kenneth Biros of Trumbull County -- are close to making
the trip to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville,
where the state has executed 26 men since 1999, officials said.
Public Defender Tim Young said August is the earliest he envisions
another execution. The last person executed in the state was
Christopher J. Newton on May 24, 2007.
Young said the cases being reviewed are at various stages of the
lengthy appeals process. Some are nearing the end of several rounds
of legal challenges, while others are not nearly as close.
Diar, three men from Franklin County and one from Marion County are
in that second tier of cases affected by a U.S. Supreme Court
decision last week. The court refused to consider an appeal by Cooey
and Biros challenging a timing provision of the lethal injection
process. A total of 25 other inmates joined the rejected appeal.
The public defender estimated that about 17 cases are in the first
tier, meaning their appeal process is limited, but not yet over.
The Supreme Court ruling, coupled with a decision the previous week
upholding lethal injection, has prosecutors and defense attorneys
scrambling to get up to speed on a backlog of capital punishment
cases. Ohio and most other states were under an unofficial moratorium
awaiting the court ruling on lethal injection, the execution method
used by all states.
Diar was convicted and sentenced to death for suffocating her son,
Jacob, 4, on Aug. 27, 2003. She set fire to her home to try to hide
the evidence. The boy's burned body was found on his bed next to his
dead puppy.
Of the 369 Ohio inmates executed since 1897, only three were women.
Two women are among the 184 current Death Row prisoners. Both are at
the Ohio Reformatory for Woman at Marysville.
Also on the second-tier list:
• James T. Conway of Franklin County, who has two murder convictions
for killing Andrew Dotson in September 2001 and Jason Gervais in
January 2002.
• Jonathan D. Monroe of Franklin County, sentenced to death for
killing two women, Travinna Simmons and Deccarla Quincy, on April 17,
1996.
• Michael R. Turner of Franklin County, who killed his estranged
wife, Jennifer Lyles Turner, and her boyfriend at her Reynoldsburg
apartment on June 12, 2001.
• Maurice Mason of Marion County, who raped and murdered Robin Dennis
on Feb. 8, 1993.
Zach Swisher, head of the criminal section for Attorney General Marc
Dann, said he doesn't know how many cases will be affected by the
decision on Cooey.
"We're not in a situation where all of sudden there's going to be
executions," Swisher said. "There's still some litigation that has to
take place."
Swisher said the attorney general is working with county prosecutors,
Gov. Ted Strickland's office, who handles clemency, and the Ohio
Supreme Court, which ultimately sets execution dates, to see which
cases should move forward.
ajohnson@dispatch. com
dispatch.com/live/ content/local_ news/stories/ 2008/04/25/DEATH_RESUMES.ART_ART_04-25-08_B1_ MVA1B3L.html?sid=101
Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:22 pm (PDT)
RESULT OF LETHAL-INJECTION RULING
Executions may resume by summer
Friday, April 25, 2008 3:22 AM
BY ALAN JOHNSON
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Nicole Diar, from Lorain County, could become the first woman
executed in Ohio since 1954.
For the first time since Ohio resumed executions in 1999, a woman is
among 27 Death Row inmates whose legal options are closing.
The Ohio public defender emphasizes that Nicole Diar of Lorain County
is not close to execution. But she could become the first woman
executed since Betty Butler from Hamilton County on June 11, 1954.
In fact, only two of 27 inmates whose cases were reviewed Tuesday by
the public defender's legal staff -- Richard Wade Cooey II of Summit
County and Kenneth Biros of Trumbull County -- are close to making
the trip to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville,
where the state has executed 26 men since 1999, officials said.
Public Defender Tim Young said August is the earliest he envisions
another execution. The last person executed in the state was
Christopher J. Newton on May 24, 2007.
Young said the cases being reviewed are at various stages of the
lengthy appeals process. Some are nearing the end of several rounds
of legal challenges, while others are not nearly as close.
Diar, three men from Franklin County and one from Marion County are
in that second tier of cases affected by a U.S. Supreme Court
decision last week. The court refused to consider an appeal by Cooey
and Biros challenging a timing provision of the lethal injection
process. A total of 25 other inmates joined the rejected appeal.
The public defender estimated that about 17 cases are in the first
tier, meaning their appeal process is limited, but not yet over.
The Supreme Court ruling, coupled with a decision the previous week
upholding lethal injection, has prosecutors and defense attorneys
scrambling to get up to speed on a backlog of capital punishment
cases. Ohio and most other states were under an unofficial moratorium
awaiting the court ruling on lethal injection, the execution method
used by all states.
Diar was convicted and sentenced to death for suffocating her son,
Jacob, 4, on Aug. 27, 2003. She set fire to her home to try to hide
the evidence. The boy's burned body was found on his bed next to his
dead puppy.
Of the 369 Ohio inmates executed since 1897, only three were women.
Two women are among the 184 current Death Row prisoners. Both are at
the Ohio Reformatory for Woman at Marysville.
Also on the second-tier list:
• James T. Conway of Franklin County, who has two murder convictions
for killing Andrew Dotson in September 2001 and Jason Gervais in
January 2002.
• Jonathan D. Monroe of Franklin County, sentenced to death for
killing two women, Travinna Simmons and Deccarla Quincy, on April 17,
1996.
• Michael R. Turner of Franklin County, who killed his estranged
wife, Jennifer Lyles Turner, and her boyfriend at her Reynoldsburg
apartment on June 12, 2001.
• Maurice Mason of Marion County, who raped and murdered Robin Dennis
on Feb. 8, 1993.
Zach Swisher, head of the criminal section for Attorney General Marc
Dann, said he doesn't know how many cases will be affected by the
decision on Cooey.
"We're not in a situation where all of sudden there's going to be
executions," Swisher said. "There's still some litigation that has to
take place."
Swisher said the attorney general is working with county prosecutors,
Gov. Ted Strickland's office, who handles clemency, and the Ohio
Supreme Court, which ultimately sets execution dates, to see which
cases should move forward.
ajohnson@dispatch. com
dispatch.com/live/ content/local_ news/stories/ 2008/04/25/DEATH_RESUMES.ART_ART_04-25-08_B1_ MVA1B3L.html?sid=101