AP: Race, pleas affect Ohio death penalty

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AP: Race, pleas affect Ohio death penalty

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-44/111548653190740.xml&storylist=national

5/7/2005, 1:57 p.m. ET

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Lawmakers writing a new capital punishment law two decades ago wanted a fair system for prosecuting the worst of the worst: killers whose crimes were so terrible there would be no question they deserved to die.

That didn't happen.

Ohio's death penalty has been inconsistently applied since it was enacted in 1981, according to a first-ever analysis by The Associated Press. Race, the extensive use of plea bargains and even where a crime has been committed all play a role in who is sentenced to death.

In its research, the AP analyzed 1,936 indictments reported to the Ohio Supreme Court from October 1981 through 2002...


Death Row inmate found dead of apparent suicide

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-16/111547721754700.xml&storylist=cleveland

5/7/2005, 12:03 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — An inmate who thanked jurors for recommending he be sentenced to death for killing a Youngstown police officer was found dead on the floor of his death row cell Saturday, an apparent suicide, a prisons spokeswoman said.

The death comes months after two inmates tried to escape from death row after hiding a homemade ladder under a pile of snow in an outdoor recreation cage. Several administrators were reprimanded and two officials were demoted and received pay cuts after the attempt in February.

Martin Koliser was found at 5:30 a.m. at Mansfield Correctional Institution, a half-hour after guards had last checked on him, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. She would not say how he died but said the Richland County coroner was on the scene.

The State Highway Patrol was in charge of the investigation, Dean said. Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Stephanie Norman said there were no signs of foul play but that no cause of death would be released until the investigation was complete...