On July 10, Ohio Governor John Kasich (pic­tured) grant­ed clemen­cy to death row inmate John Eley, who was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on July 26. Eley’s sen­tence was reduced to life in prison with­out parole. The gov­er­nor said he based his deci­sion on evi­dence that Eley act­ed under the direc­tion of anoth­er per­son, and that his men­tal capac­i­ty was lim­it­ed, say­ing, ​“Without those fac­tors it is doubt­ful that Eley would have com­mit­ted this crime.” The pros­e­cu­tor in the case and one of the judges who sen­tenced Eley to death called for mer­cy. The Ohio Parole Board vot­ed 5 – 3 against rec­om­mend­ing clemen­cy. Those who vot­ed for clemen­cy said that Eley’s crime was not one of the ​“worst of the worst,” and that sim­i­lar crimes rarely receive death sen­tences. This is the third death-row clemen­cy grant­ed by Gov. Kasich, includ­ing two issued in 2011.

(A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ohio gov­er­nor spares killer of store own­er,” Associated Press, July 10, 2012.) See Clemency and Ohio. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Clemency.

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