Ohio Death Penalty Law

High court lethal injection ruling has ‘huge impact’

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol means nearly two dozen Ohio convicts may soon have a date with the executioner, Ohio Public Defender Timothy Young said Wednesday, April 16.  “It has a huge impact,” Young told the Dayton Daily News. “The ultimate reality is, the Supreme Court case clears the way for 20 to 22 inmates on Ohio’s death row to have execution dates set.” These are inmates who have exhausted their appeals and, in some cases, have had clemency hearings.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Wednesday that Kentucky inmates failed to prove there’s a significant risk that improper administration of the three-drug intravenous cocktail commonly used in U.S. executions would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The drugs render inmates unconscious, paralyze them and stop their hearts.

In a similar case in Ohio, convicted killer Richard Cooey alleged the first drug could wear off and the inmate could be conscious when the final, lethal drug was administered, but outward signs of pain would be masked by the paralytic drug. Twenty-six other condemned Ohio inmates joined that lawsuit.

The Cooey case also is before the U.S. Supreme Court, but “they could simply toss it because of the (Kentucky) decision,” Young said.

Ohio inmates could have a better chance with the court, however, because Ohio’s lethal injection system has had specific problems, Young and other attorneys said.

“In Ohio, we have different facts (than in the Kentucky case). We’ve had two botched executions, of Joe Clark and Chris Newton,” said Carrie Davis, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio in Cleveland.  “In Clark’s case, it took an hour and a half and in the middle of it he sat up on the gurney and said, ‘It’s not working.’ With Chris Newton, it took two hours and they had to stop and take a bathroom break in the middle of it.”  Attorneys for the governor’s office, the state attorney general’s office and the state prison system are reviewing the Kentucky decision, said prisons spokeswoman Andrea Carson. There are 184 inmates on Ohio’s death row.

No Ohio convict is facing an imminent execution date, said Ohio Supreme Court spokesman Chris Davey.