[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

December 2



OHIO:

Prosecutor Considering Pursuing Death Penalty For Man Accused In Murders Of 
Woman, Child



A grand jury has indicted a man accused of setting fire to a suburban Cleveland 
home and killing a woman and her 8-year-old daughter.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said Friday his office is 
considering pursuing the death penalty against 27-year-old Dominique Swopes, of 
Mayfield Heights, in what he called a “senseless” killing. dominique swopes 
Prosecutor Considering Pursuing Death Penalty For Man Accused In Murders Of 
Woman, Child

Swopes is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated arson and other counts in 
the Nov. 20 deaths of his neighbors.

Authorities say 41-year-old Rebecca Pletnewski was fatally stabbed before her 
home was set on fire and her daughter, 8-year-old Olivia Schneider, died at a 
hospital from smoke inhalation. Authorities say Swopes had four of Pletnewski’s 
rings, valued at more than $1,000.

Court records don’t list an attorney for Snopes. He is set to be arraigned Dec. 
14.

(source: The Associated Press)

*********************

Mental illness, the death penalty and House Bill 81



When a statewide task force recommended ways for Ohio to improve its death 
penalty, it included a proposal to bar from execution those defendants 
suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the crime. The panel gave 
strong support, the vote 15-2. Yet, as with too many of the 56 recommendations, 
this idea has languished, state lawmakers failing to act.

Will that change? The opportunity now is here. On Tuesday, the House Criminal 
Justice Committee heard testimony concerning House Bill 81, sponsored by state 
Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, and Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood 
Democrat. The committee chairman, state Rep. Nathan Manning, a North Ridgeville 
Republican, said he expects the panel to vote next week.

A favorable vote would send the measure to the House floor and, if approved, 
would open the door to Senate action in the current lame-duck session. The 
legislation deserves passage.

The proposal builds on the exclusions already established for juveniles and the 
developmentally disabled. The thinking reserves the death penalty for the worst 
of the worst. That designation does not include those with impaired judgment, 
for instance, due to their youth or inability to distinguish fully right and 
wrong. Out of decency, it follows to include those with severe mental illness.

At the committee hearing, prosecutors reiterated their opposition. They have 
warned that those currently on death row would flood the courts with motions 
seeking review of their sentences. Actually, the legislation is narrowly cast, 
identifying 5 precise mental illnesses, schizophrenia, schizoaffective 
disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and delusional disorder.

A judge would weigh the evidence and decide whether the defendant suffered from 
the affliction when committing the crime.

How many death row inmates would meet the threshold? Experts put the number at 
roughly 10 %, or hardly overwhelming for the courts. Even then, not all would 
succeed. The burden of proof rests with the defense to show the defendant was 
ill.

Prosecutors have argued that the courts have a process for assessing the role 
of mental illness. They point to the sentencing phase of capital punishment 
trials, when jurors decide whether to apply the death penalty as the law 
directs. At that point, a defendant can put forward evidence of mental illness 
as a mitigating factor. The trouble is that research reveals jurors often see 
mental illness as an aggravating factor and thus are more likely to see a death 
sentence as warranted.

They tend to see mental illness as confirming guilt and a reason to fear the 
defendant. The familiar stigma, or prejudice, or discrimination, comes into 
play.

In that way, the mitigation phase risks turning justice upside down, the 
findings of researchers making stronger the case for House Bill 81. This 
legislation isn’t about leniency or somehow cutting bad actors a break. Those 
excluded from the death penalty still would face a severe punishment, life in 
prison without the possibility of parole.

Again, defendants would have to prove to the court they suffered from one of 
the severe mental illnesses set in the law. That wouldn’t be easy, but it would 
offer a needed measure of protection for the rest of us. There is good reason 
for exempting juveniles and the developmentally disabled. It also applies to 
those with severe mental illness at the time they commit the crime. They are 
not among the worst of the worst and thus should not face a death sentence.

(source: Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board)