COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state is fighting to reinstate the death sentence of a convicted killer, arguing he must prove again that he is mentally disabled under U.S. Supreme Court standards.
Ohio says the mental state of Michael Bies has never received a proper hearing because state court findings came six years before the Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of the mentally disabled.
The 36-year-old Bies killed a 10-year-old boy in Cincinnati in 1992.
The Supreme Court on April 27 will hear Ohio's challenge to a federal appeals court decision last year that overturned Bies' death sentence. A ruling is expected by summer.
At least 85 death row inmates, including four from Ohio, have successfully challenged their death sentences under the 2002 decision.
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Ohio inmate must prove his mental disability again to avoid death penalty
From The AP: