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February 18, 2021 By Hannah Kubbins

Bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers pushes to end state’s death penalty

Contact: Hannah Kubbins, hannah@otse.org

740-877-7390

(Columbus, OH) — This morning, Senators Nickie Antonio (D-23) and Stephen Huffman (R-5) announced their intention to introduce a bill that will repeal Ohio’s death penalty.

The Senators were joined by colleagues from both sides of the political aisle, as well as leaders from Ohioans To Stop Executions, a statewide grassroots group representing more than 8,000 Ohioans. OTSE leads a network of state organizations that support repeal of the death penalty in Ohio.

The bipartisan legislation comes at a time when the death penalty is declining nationwide, and in Ohio. Last month, the Commonwealth of Virginia, a former confederate state that has executed more people than any other, passed its own bipartisan bill to end the death penalty. The Governor is expected to sign it any day. In Ohio, a bill that would exempt individuals with serious mental illness from receiving a death sentence recently passed and was signed into law by Governor DeWine in January. This legislation was a common sense step step toward creating a more equitable criminal legal system. However, a recent poll has shown Ohioans are ready for more: they’re ready to repeal Ohio’s death penalty.

“Ohio is ready to end a costly and risky policy that has delivered nothing but harm. With our sponsors at the helm, we will have an unprecedented bipartisan dialogue to address the question of whether Ohio’s death penalty is worth retaining,” said Hanah Kubbins, Executive Director of Ohioans to Stop Executions and the OTSE Action Fund. “This is a system that convicts innocent people with alarming regularity, puts victim family members through many more years of pain, is not an effective response to violence, and costs taxpayers millions of dollars for what amounts to security theater and a distraction from justice and public safety.” she said.

Jonathan Mann, OTSE’s Vice Chairperson of the Board, lost his father tragically to homicide nearly four years ago and also spoke at today’s press conference.

“If we care about victims and their family members, policy changes need to be made. Reversing the current policy would be extremely impactful.”

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Ohioans To Stop Executions is a statewide grassroots group with more than 8,000 supporters, including murder victims’ family members and other survivors of violent crime, law enforcement professionals, families of the incarcerated, and death row exonorees. OTSE, based in Columbus, leads a network of over one hundred state and local organizations that support repeal of the death penalty in Ohio.

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RECOMMENDATION 52

Adoption of a rule directing that the trial judge is the appropriate authority for the appointment of experts for indigent defendants. The rule should further provide that the decision pertaining to the appointment of experts shall be made, on the record, at one of the prescribed Pre-Trial Conferences.

If defense counsel requests, the demand for appointment of the expert shall be made in-camera ex parte, and the order concerning the appointment shall be under seal.

Upon establishing counsels’ respective compliance with discovery obligations, the question of the appointment of experts (including determination of projected expert fees based upon analysis of expert’s time to be applied to the case as well as consideration of incremental payment of expert fees as case progresses) would be decided by the court, which decision would be subject to immediate appeal, under seal, to the appropriate Court of Appeals. The trial court judge shall make written findings as to the basis for any denial. Although concerns have been raised as to the ability of the Appellate Court to provide the anticipated, necessary expedited hearing within a reasonable time-frame, the Joint Task Force suggests that this issue be elevated to the status of a final appealable order and that the necessary expedited appellate process be spelled out in the statute.

RECOMMENDATION 54

Should the present process of appointment of indigent counsel by the judiciary continue, the main objective should always be to assure the best educationally experienced and qualified candidate, who is available (within the county or outside the county), and who is otherwise willing to take on the responsibilities associated with the case for an appropriate fee and accompanying expenses, is appointed. A uniform fee schedule for such services across the State of Ohio must be a necessary consideration to assure the equal protection and due process for the accused in a capital case.

RECOMMENDATION 55

Adoption of reporting standards to provide complete transparency of record, including requirements to ensure better record keeping by the trial judge and the provision of additional, detailed resource information necessary to assure strict compliance with due process, which information shall be submitted to the Supreme Court upon completion of the case. Such resource information may include unique Constitutional issues, unique evidentiary issues, significant motions, plea rationale, pre-sentence investigation, and any additional information required by the Rule 20 Committee or the Supreme Court of Ohio. Additional types of resource information could be developed as part of the mandated educational process conducted by the Ohio Judicial College.

RECOMMENDATION 56

The Joint Task Force believes that some of the recommendations above could be accomplished by the adoption of a separate Criminal Rule for Capital Cases. The Joint Task Force recommends that such a rule be adopted and provide for the mandatory training of attorneys and judges (Recommendation 49), the selection and appointment of indigent counsel in capital cases (Recommendation 51), and the enforcement of the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases and the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams (Recommendations 11 and 12).

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