COLUMBUS (TDB) -- The news about Ohio death row inmate Kenny Richey is huge in Britain, where he was expected home in Scotland by Saturday. Richey has spent 20 years on death row, but his conviction has been overturned. There were allegations his original defense lawyer was incompetent and the witnesses presented questionable testimony.
Many people considered Richey the poster boy for an unjust capital punishment system in Ohio. There seemed to be gaping holes in the case that put him under a death sentence.
Richey, 43, was scheduled to plead no contest to charges of child endangering, breaking and entering and involuntary manslaughter today. In exchange, prosecutors would drop the murder charge and he would be freed on time served. Richey's plan was to board a plane and head back to spend Christmas with his mother in Scotland. He suffered chest pains hours before his court appearance and reportedly needs a heart catheter. The resentencing is set for Jan. 8.
The complete text of the August ruling by the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that found fault with Richey's Ohio trial and threw out the conviction is available here.
Richey's case has raised serious issues about capital punishment, and his conviction was attacked by Pope John Paul II, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and others in Europe, where the death penalty is banned by many countries as barbaric. Ohio state court judges have upheld Richey's conviction, but federal judges repeatedly found flaws in the case and ordered new trials. Prosecutors decided to work out a deal with Richey's defense lawyers. Richey will still be a felon if he pleads no contest, but that may not be an issue in Europe where supporters contend he is the victim of an unjust and brutal American legal system.
Showing posts with label Death Row. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death Row. Show all posts
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Federal Appeals Court: Ohio's Lethal Injections OK For Now
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- An Ohio death row inmate's claim that lethal injection is a "cruel and unusual punishment" banned by the Constitution was rejected today by a federal appeals court in Cincinnati. A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that convicted murderer Richard Wade Cooey II waited too long to file his legal challenge and found the statute of limitations had expired.
The decision by the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals avoided addressing the core issue of Cooey's claim -- the drugs administered when Ohio prisoners are put to death cause intense pain. As part of the procedure, inmates are paralyzed and cannot scream or reveal possible suffering. Ohio uses a combination of three drugs to execute convicts: Sodium thiopental, pancurionium bromide and potassium chloride. The sodium thiopental anesthetizes the prisoner; the pancurionium paralyzes but does not interrupt the ability to feel pain, and the potassium chloride causes cardiac arrest.
Besides attacking the protocol used to cause death, Cooey and another inmate, Adremy Dennis, contended that state prison personnel attending executions and inadequately trained. The appeals court majority said the two-year statute of limitations had expired on Cooey barred him from further challenges. Dennis has already been executed.
Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman dissented from the majority and said he would have considered the appeal. He said Cooey was not challenging his death sentence, but the method of execution. "Ensuring that executions comply with the Constitution of the United States is a paramount duty for the courts, despite the human and financial costs of protracted postconviction litigation," Gilman said.
Ohio made changes to its lethal injection process last year after Joseph Clark's execution was halted on May 2, 2006. His vein collapsed and the drugs could not be administered. Clark was able to speak and told officials the process was not working as he was strapped to a gurney in the death chamber. They stopped, found a new site in his vein, and finished putting him to death.
Today's ruling is HERE. Cooey originally was scheduled for execution on July 24, 2004. It was stayed by the 6th Circuit pending the appeal.
The decision by the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals avoided addressing the core issue of Cooey's claim -- the drugs administered when Ohio prisoners are put to death cause intense pain. As part of the procedure, inmates are paralyzed and cannot scream or reveal possible suffering. Ohio uses a combination of three drugs to execute convicts: Sodium thiopental, pancurionium bromide and potassium chloride. The sodium thiopental anesthetizes the prisoner; the pancurionium paralyzes but does not interrupt the ability to feel pain, and the potassium chloride causes cardiac arrest.
Besides attacking the protocol used to cause death, Cooey and another inmate, Adremy Dennis, contended that state prison personnel attending executions and inadequately trained. The appeals court majority said the two-year statute of limitations had expired on Cooey barred him from further challenges. Dennis has already been executed.
Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman dissented from the majority and said he would have considered the appeal. He said Cooey was not challenging his death sentence, but the method of execution. "Ensuring that executions comply with the Constitution of the United States is a paramount duty for the courts, despite the human and financial costs of protracted postconviction litigation," Gilman said.
Ohio made changes to its lethal injection process last year after Joseph Clark's execution was halted on May 2, 2006. His vein collapsed and the drugs could not be administered. Clark was able to speak and told officials the process was not working as he was strapped to a gurney in the death chamber. They stopped, found a new site in his vein, and finished putting him to death.
Today's ruling is HERE. Cooey originally was scheduled for execution on July 24, 2004. It was stayed by the 6th Circuit pending the appeal.
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