COLUMBUS, Ohio – Shortly after the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio called for a moratorium on executions through 2015, Gov. John Kasich commuted the death sentence of the next inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection.
The ACLU based its Wednesday request on the state Parole Board’s recommendation that Kasich grant clemency to condemned killer Arthur Tyler, who was scheduled to be put to death for the 1983 shooting of a Cleveland produce vendor. Later Wednesday, Kasich commuted Tyler’s sentence to life in prison without parole.
The ACLU also cited a botched execution Tuesday in Oklahoma in which an inmate died of a heart attack after something went wrong with the lethal injection procedure.
This week the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced it was doubling the dose of the two drugs used in Ohio’s lethal injections. The decision came after a review of the execution of Dennis McGuire, who took 26 minutes to die and whose family claims the execution amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
“The Department remains confident that it conducted [McGuire’s] execution in a humane, constitutional way and that the inmate was completely unconscious and felt no pain,” said department spokeswoman JoEllen Smith.
The civil rights group also said Kasich should halt all executions through 2015.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols says the governor supports the death penalty and takes the responsibility of implementing it seriously.
Kasich reduced Tyler’s sentence in the slaying of 74-year-old Sander Leach to life without the possibility of parole, rejecting requests that Tyler be made eligible for parole for possible release.
“The questions that continue around this case are fundamental and the irregularities in the court proceedings are troubling. Arthur Tyler’s crime against Sander Leach and his family was heinous and this commutation in no way diminishes that,” Kasich said in a statement from his office announcing the decision.
Tyler’s attorneys argue he is innocent in the Leach shooting, saying Tyler’s co-defendant took responsibility for the shooting several times. Cuyahoga County prosecutors dispute Tyler’s innocence but also pushed for clemency, saying the case doesn’t meet current standards for capital punishment.
The 54-year-old Tyler was scheduled to die May 28.