Ohio Death Penalty Information

John Spirko case sets reprieve record:  Andrew Welsh-Huggins has this story for AP, entitled "Condemned killer holds modern record for delays with 7 reprieves," noting that no other modern-era death row inmate in Ohio or elsewhere has come close to the number of reprieves received by John Spirko.

Excerpt:
...He holds the record for the number of times an inmate has been spared an execution date under the state's new death penalty law, which took effect in 1981.

Gov. Ted Strickland granted Spirko's seventh reprieve late last month so his lawyers and the state can further study evidence in the death of Betty Jane Mottinger. Mottinger was abducted and repeatedly stabbed, then wrapped in a tarp and dumped in a field where her body was found three weeks after her death.

The July reprieve was the second for Spirko from Strickland, a Democrat. Former Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, had delayed his execution five times.

In recent decades, no one else comes close to Spirko in number of delays. Taft did not issue reprieves for any other death row inmates. Strickland delayed three inmates' executions earlier this year to review their files. Two have since been executed.

Spirko's case is unusual, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a national data clearinghouse that opposes capital punishment.

He said there are no similar examples nationally since the modern death-penalty era began in 1976 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled capital punishment constitutional after a four-year gap. ...

Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial on seventh Spriko reprieve:  The Cleveland Plain Dealer has this editorial, entitled "A wise reprieve for Spirko."

In entirety:
At some point, Gov. Ted Strickland is going to have to choose whether to execute John Spirko. But after less than a year in office, he has every reason to allow more time for analysis of DNA related to the case.

Strickland issued a reprieve on Monday - the eighth [sic] delay of Spirko's execution.

The 61-year-old inmate was sentenced to death for the 1982 murder of Betty J. Mottinger, postmaster of Elgin, Ohio. Arrested that year on unrelated charges, Spirko sought leniency by offering to tell officials details of the crime that he said he'd heard at a party. Although Spirko changed his story repeatedly and no tangible evidence links him to the crime, investigators ultimately concluded he was the murderer; in 1984, a jury agreed.

More than two decades later, Plain Dealer reporter Bob Paynter explored the case in a three-part series highlighting serious shortcomings in the prosecution's case, as well as instances of questionable behavior by law enforcement.

This newspaper opposes the death penalty in any circumstance, but this instance doesn't even require that we raise that fundamental philosophical objection. Execution is a final, irreversible act. To consider it in a case plagued with questions and contradictions defies logic.

Spirko has a long record of run-ins with the law, including a previous conviction for murder. He is by no means an admirable citizen. But the question for Strickland involves not Spirko's character, but society's certainty of his culpability in one specific case.

DNA testing, to date, has neither exonerated Spirko nor implicated anyone else, an unsurprising result, given the age of the material involved. Still, Strickland and Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann deserve credit for allowing enough time for truly comprehensive analysis. This waiver extends to Jan. 24, 2008. By then, the governor should recognize the right thing to do.

Note:  Spirko has now received seven reprieves, not eight.

(Earlier coverage of John Spriko case is here.)

More on John Spirko reprieve #7 / life without parole an option?:  Alan Johnson has more details on yesterday's grant of reprieve to Ohio death row inmate John Spirko in this article in the Columbus Dispatch, entitled "Execution delayed for seventh time: Strickland bumps date to January '08; life without parole remains a possibility."  JIm Provance has this coverage in the Toledo Blade, entitled "Spirko gets 7th death-row reprieve; Defense hopes DNA will point to someone else in 1982 death."  Greg Sowinski has this coverage for the Lima News, entitled "Spirko given seventh reprieve."  Eleanore Hayes has this video coverage (1:25) for ONN/WBNS-TV (both owned by the Dispatch, btw).

Dispatch excerpts:
...Another option still available to state officials would allow Spirko, 61, to permanently escape the executioner and likely keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Life without the possibility of parole is a sentencing option unavailable under Ohio law in 1983 when Spirko was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Mary Jane Mottinger, 48, postmistress in Elgin in northwestern Ohio.

...Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said life without parole has not been formally considered.

"The governor's office has not started a thorough review of the Spirko case, largely due to the large number of reprieves," Dailey said.

Ohio governors have broad clemency powers, including granting temporary reprieves, as Strickland did yesterday. The governor also can commute sentences to life with or without the possibility of parole, to time served or to a specific number of years. The governor also can grant full pardons.

...Alvin Dunn, one of Spirko's attorneys, said in an interview with the Ohio News Network that although his client still has legal options, "We believe his best hope is with the governor."

"We're very hopeful the new people will take a careful look at this," Dunn said. "There is far too much doubt to let an execution go forward."

...In March, Attorney General Marc Dann's office confirmed that the DNA tests had uncovered nothing that conclusively proved Spirko's guilt or innocence. The state's testing bill totaled $47,000.

"This is the only (death penalty) case that's totally dependent on circumstantial evidence," Dann said at the time. ...

• Earlier coverage of reprieve #7 granted to John Spirko yesterday by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland here.
• Additional earlier coverage of Spirko case is here.

SEVENTH REPRIEVE GRANTED TO JOHN SPIRKO

In response to a request by attorneys for John Spirko for additional time to complete DNA testing on certain evidence in the case, and with no objection from the Ohio Attorney General, Governor Ted Strickland today issued a seventh execution reprieve for Spriko.  The execution date has been pushed back from September, 18, 2007 to January 24, 2008.

• Official warrant of reprieve is here (1-page pdf)
• Alan Johnson has this coverage on the Columbus Dispatch website.  AP has this.  (ONN reporter Eleanor Hayes did a phone interview with one of the Spirko attorneys; ONN coverage may be forthcoming.)

 

SPIRKO REPRIEVE #6 GRANTED

Reprieve postpones execution until Sept. 18.

Scan of reprieve warrant is here (1-page pdf).

AP report is here.  Columbus Dispatch has this.  (Notice of the reprieve was posted to the Dispatch website almost two hours before attorneys for John Spirko received notice from Governor Strickland's chief counsel at around 4:30 PM.)

Spirko reprieve request update:  It has now been three weeks since a request was sent to Governor Strickland by the Ohio attorney general seeking a reprieve of John Spirko's execution, presently scheduled for April 17.  (Earlier coverage here.)

Biros/Spirko update:  Parties to both sides of the appeal currently before the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a a full-court (en banc) rehearing of the March 3-judge panel ruling ordering dismissal of the Cooey v. Taft lawsuit (challenging Ohio's lethal-injection protocol - see earlier posts here, here, here) finished filing their briefs yesterday, and the court could issue a ruling at any time.  If the court agrees to the en banc rehearing, the stay of Kenneth Biros' March 20 execution currently in effect should remain so and would likely not be lifted before March 20.  If the court declines to rehear the case, there are other legal appeals in process for Biros and the status of the stay of execution would be uncertain.  There has been no clemency decision for Biros announced by Governor Strickland.

Latest speculation on Spirko reprieve request:  It has now been two weeks since a request was sent to Governor Strickland by the Ohio attorney general seeking a reprieve of John Spirko's execution, presently scheduled for April 17.  Since Spirko is also a party to the Cooey lawsuit (although, unlike Biros, without an an accompanying stay), it is possible that Governor Strickland is waiting for the 6th Circuit ruling on the Cooey rehearing appeal before responding to the reprieve request.  There is also speculation that the long wait for a response has nothing at all to do with the Cooey case, and that the governor is presently just very busy getting up to speed on a number of matters.  (In short, outside of the governor's office, no one seems to really have any clear idea why the response is taking so long.)

Day 10 since Spirko reprieve request sent to Governor Strickland, and still no response - as rumors grow about a possible statement regarding Ohio's death penalty during Wednesday's State of the State address.  (Governor Strickland's first State of the State address should be viewable live via streaming video at this link on Wednesday, March 14, at Noon.) 

Note: ODPI has no information to either substantiate or dispel these rumors.

Spirko / Biros updates:

• As of late this afternoon, there had been no response from Governor Strickland to last week's reprieve request for John Spirko (see earlier posts here and here).   

• The Kenneth Biros situation is presently very legally convoluted:  There has been no ruling yet from the US 6th Circuit Ct. of Appeals on the Ohio AG's appeal of the stay of Kenneth Biros' March 20 execution issued in US district court on Dec 21, 2006.  That stay of execution was issued in the course of allowing Biros to be included in the Cooey v. Taft lethal-injection challenge case - and although the 6th Circuit has ordered the US district court to dismiss the Cooey suit, that ruling is being appealed, and an accompanying petition for the 6th Circuit to "stay the mandate" of the dismissal order has not yet been resolved.  The stay of Biros' March 20 execution is therefore still currently in effect - although it could be voided quickly following a negative 6th Circuit ruling.  There seems to be a general expectation that the 6th Circuit will stay the mandate, and that the stay of the March 20 execution will hold.  (There is varying opinion as to whether, if the 6th Circuit refuses to stay the mandate, the stay of execution will remain in effect anyway pending possible further legal action.) 

• A new cert petition was filed yesterday for Biros in the US Supreme Court.   (Case is #06-9920; petition is here (14-page pdf).)

No response yet to the John Spirko reprieve request pending before Ohio Governor Ted Strickland: (See earlier posts here and here.)  Any news will be posted as it becomes available.