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| Ohio court puts off decision on halting execution |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/13/2001 |
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The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday put off a ruling on whether condemned killer Jay D. Scott's execution should be postponed while the court where Scott was convicted and sentenced hears arguments about his competency. Lawyers for Scott, who shot a Cleveland delicatessen owner to death during a 1983 robbery, had asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to postpone Scott's execution while the competency issue was resolved. Chief Justice Thomas Moyer said the decision would be 'deferred until further order of this court.'' He cited a request by Scott's attorneys to hold a competency hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. A hearing in that court is scheduled for Monday. The decision to put off the ruling disappointed Timothy Sweeney, one of Scott's court-appointed attorneys. A ruling the day before Scott is to be executed could hinder possible appeals on the competency issue, he said. 'It sort of leaves everybody in limbo,'' Sweeney said. ``It also leaves open the possibility the stay might be denied. We won't find out until, I guess, sometime late in the day Monday.'' Attorney General Betty Montgomery had asked the Supreme Court earlier Thursday to deny Scott's request to put his execution on hold. She said Scott's lawyers had not produced sufficient evidence of Scott's incompetence. Also on Thursday, eight Democrats in the Legislature asked Gov. Bob Taft to reconsider his decision to deny clemency to Scott. Taft on Tuesday denied Scott's request to spare his life, saying the mitigating factors of Scott's troubled upbringing and bouts of mental illness did not outweigh the severity of the crimes he acknowledged committing. |
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