[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 8




OHIO----stay of impending execution

Gov. Kasich Grants Reprieve, Delays Execution of Raymond Tibbetts


Governor John Kasich today granted a reprieve in the scheduled execution of 
Raymond Tibbetts, who was set to die next Tuesday, Feb. 13. His execution has 
been rescheduled for Oct. 17, 2018.

One of the original jurors in the case recently wrote a letter to Kasich asking 
him to commute Tibbetts' death sentence to life in prison without parole. The 
juror, Ross Geiger, argued that, given what he knows now about possible 
malpractice by Tibbetts' trial attorneys, the man's difficult upbringing and an 
opioid addiction developed as an adult, he wouldn't have voted to send Tibbetts 
to the death chamber.

The delay announced today will allow the Ohio Parole Board to hear new evidence 
on Tibbetts' clemency request. The board had originally recommended to deny it.

In a statement, Tibbetts' attorney Erin Barnhart said:

"Governor Kasich acted in the interests of fairness and justice by recognizing 
new information provided by a juror from Mr. Tibbetts’ trial merits careful 
additional consideration. Because a juror from the original trial recently 
revealed flaws in the proceedings, there is now incontrovertible proof that Mr. 
Tibbetts never would have ended up on death row had the system functioned 
properly. This juror—whose single vote for life would have made Mr. Tibbetts 
ineligible for the death penalty under Ohio law—was shocked when he saw 
evidence that Mr. Tibbetts’ abuse and abandonment continued throughout his 
childhood, even once the State placed him in foster care. The juror also 
learned that this horrible environment had devastating consequences for all of 
the Tibbetts children. Even more, Tibbetts’ severe addiction problems were not 
fully addressed, particularly in regard to the dangers of prescribing opioids 
to people with a history of addiction. Mr. Tibbetts’ attorneys failed to 
present this evidence at trial and the prosecutor misstated the facts. Juror 
Geiger's view of the case provides compelling reasons for the exercise of the 
Governor’s reprieve power to allow the Ohio Parole Board to convene a hearing 
to consider this new information. We are confident that after doing so, the 
Board and the Governor will agree that clemency is appropriate to correct the 
failures in the legal process in this case. Governor Kasich has done our State 
a great service today by ensuring that careful consideration is given to this 
new information.”

(source: clevelandscene.com)