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| Appeal Denied for Ohio Death Row Inmate |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 08/31/2001 |
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The Ohio Supreme Court rejected an appeal Wednesday from a death row inmate who says he will choose the electric chair over lethal injection to make it harder on his executioners and to illustrate the brutality of capital punishment. In a 4-3 vote, the court refused to grant a hearing for John W. Byrd Jr., and would not delay the execution, set for Sept. 12. The court did not give its reasons. Byrd's execution would be Ohio's first electrocution in 38 years. The state's two executions since 1963 have been by injection. Ohio gives condemned inmates a choice between the electric chair and lethal injection. Byrd, 37, was convicted in the 1983 stabbing death of a Cincinnati convenience store clerk during a robbery in 1983. He acknowledged taking part in the holdup but said an accomplice killed the clerk. The accomplice, John Brewer, has admitted to the crime in two sworn statements. However, prosecutors counter that Brewer previously said he wasn't involved and changed his story to save Byrd's life. Brewer was convicted as an accomplice and could not be tried again. He was sentenced to life in prison. Gov. Bob Taft is weighing a request for clemency. |
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