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February 19, 2021 By Hannah Kubbins

TWO NEW WRONGFUL DEATH SENTENCES IDENTIFIED IN OHIO

Cuyahoga County Has 2nd-Most Wrongful Death Sentences in the United States.

Statement of Hannah Kubbins, Executive Director of Ohioans to Stop Executions

On Thursday, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) announced the addition of 11 previously unidentified cases to the official list of death row exonerations, increasing the national total of persons exonerated from death sentences from 174 to 185. Two of those cases are from Ohio, raising our total number from 9 to 11.

Thomas Pearson and Charles Tolliver were both wrongly convicted in Cuyahoga County and sent to death row. Cuyahoga County has sent innocent people to death row six times, tied with Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania for the second highest number of death penalty exonerations in the country.

Yesterday, a new death penalty repeal bill with unprecedented bipartisan support was announced. Kwame Ajamu, one of those exonerated from Ohio’s death row, broke the news of the new wrongful convictions during the press conference, saying:

“[We now know that] Ohio sent 11 people to death row who were later exonerated and freed. These are just the ones we know about. How many have been innocent and executed? How many are still innocent and on death row? What are we going to do about this?”

Ohio’s track record with wrongful convictions is just one of many factors that shifted public opinion about capital punishment in Ohio. The only way to prevent wrongful executions is to repeal Ohio’s death penalty.

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Filed Under: Press Releases

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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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