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  • About Us
    • Mission & History
    • Board & Staff
    • Contact OTSE
  • Take Action
    • Join OTSE
    • Donate
    • Upcoming Events
    • Host an Event
    • Open Letter from Ohio’s Faith Leaders
    • Mental Illness Reforms
  • Resources
    • Issues
    • Task Force Recommendations
    • Educational Handouts & Articles
    • Clemency Campaigns
    • News
    • Press Releases
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News

December 11, 2020

Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) Seeking Statewide Organizer 

OTSE  seeks a Community Organizer who will grow, mobilize, and manage our members and supporters to spread awareness and foster public support for ending the death penalty. In particular, this position will be responsible for identifying and empowering individuals directly impacted by racism and injustice in the criminal legal system and drawing attention to the […]

November 5, 2020

Sign-On Letter for Law Enforcement Officials

We are current or former members of the law enforcement community. As prosecutors, judges, police officials, and correctional staff, we have shown a commitment to keeping our state safe. It is because of this commitment that we cannot support the death penalty and instead call for its repeal. Though we hold varying views on the […]

November 5, 2020

Rukiye Abdul-Mutakallim

October 5, 2020

Column: Ohio’s use of death penalty perpetuates racial injustice

It is becoming more difficult for people to ignore or deny the obvious racism that has infected our nation. This contaminant has been found in secular and sacred realms as well as private and public institutions. Anyone who describes herself or himself as being committed to justice and the common good must be willing to do […]

October 5, 2020

Pope Francis closes the door on the death penalty in ‘Fratelli Tutti’

Pope Francis’ new encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,” does something that some Catholics believed could not be done: It ratifies a change in church teaching. In this case, on the death penalty. In 2018, Pope Francis ordered a change in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official compendium of church teaching, when he termed the death penalty “inadmissible.” Today the […]

September 24, 2020

Opinion: Repeal death penalty and eliminate racial bias

As a Black woman who was wrongfully convicted of murder and served over 20 years in Ohio prisons for a crime I didn’t commit, I am all too aware of racial bias in our justice system. In a moment when the nation is grappling with how to best address systemic racism and implement meaningful criminal […]

September 23, 2020

Gasping For Air: Autopsies Reveal Troubling Effects Of Lethal Injection

Dr. Joel Zivot stared at the autopsy reports. The language was dry and clinical, in stark contrast to the weight of what they contained — detailed, graphic accounts of the bodies of inmates executed by lethal injection in Georgia. It was 2016, and the autopsy reports had been given to him by lawyers representing inmates […]

September 16, 2020

CINCINNATI IS AN EPICENTER FOR THE DEATH PENALTY. ITS PROSECUTOR RACE COULD END THAT IN NOVEMBER.

In Hamilton County, Joe Deters has sent more people to death row than any other prosecutor in Ohio. His challenger, Fanon Rucker, promises to stop that practice. Read more here.

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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).