COLUMBUS, Ohio – Amid concerns about the death penalty in Ohio and several other states after a series of troubled executions, a panel assigned to study capital punishment in Ohio has handed over to the state Supreme Court a list of recommendations, many of which would make it more difficult to sentence an offender to death.
The 22-member committee, made of judges, lawyers and others had been studying the issue at the request of Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and a former state Bar Association president since 2011.
O’Connor and the current Bar Association president will review the report and it is being made available to lawmakers and others online.
A dissenting report claims the recommendations are “anti-death penalty”
Among the panel’s recommendations:
Exclude defendants who suffer from “serious mental illness” at the time of execution from the death penalty.
Require by law that prosecutors must produce biological evidence or DNA evidence that links the defendant to the act of murder, a videotaped, voluntary confession, a video recording that “conclusively links the defendant to the murder” or similar factors before the death penalty can be considered.
Remove kidnapping, rape, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary from the list of crimes punishable by death.
Create a death penalty committee in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office which would review cases submitted by county prosecutors who may want to sentence a defendant with death. The Attorney General’s office would approve or disapprove of the charges “paying particular attention to the race of the victim(s) and defendant(s).”