Close Search
Round Separator
Menu Search Death Penalty Information Center
  • About
    • Staff & Board of Directors
    • About Us
    • DPIC in the Media
    • DPIC Testimony
    • Press Releases
    • Work for DPIC
  • For the Media
  • Resources
    • Publications & Testimony
    • Related Websites
    • DPIC Podcasts
    • DPIC Reports
    • New Voices
    • En Español
  • For Educators
  • Fact Sheet
  • Donate
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Home
  • Policy Issues
    • Arbitrariness
    • Costs
    • Deterrence
    • Human Rights
    • Innocence
    • Intellectual Disability
    • International
    • Juveniles
    • Mental Illness
    • Prosecutorial Accountability
    • Race
    • Representation
    • Sentencing Alternatives
    • Victims' Families
  • Facts & Research
    • Fact Sheet
    • Death Penalty Census
    • Clemency
    • Crimes Punishable by Death
    • DPIC Reports
    • History of the Death Penalty
    • Innocence Database
    • Murder Rates
    • Public Opinion
    • Recent Legislative Activity
    • Religion
    • Sentencing Data
    • Student Research Center
    • United States Supreme Court
  • Executions
    • Executions Overview
    • Upcoming Executions
    • Execution Database
    • Methods of Execution
    • Botched Executions
    • Lethal Injection
  • Death Row
    • Death Row Overview
    • Conditions on Death Row
    • Foreign Nationals
    • Native Americans
    • Time on Death Row
    • Women
  • State & Federal Info
    • State by State
    • Federal Death Penalty
    • Military
  • Home
  • Policy Issues
    • Arbitrariness
    • Costs
    • Deterrence
    • Human Rights
    • Innocence
    • Intellectual Disability
    • International
    • Juveniles
    • Mental Illness
    • Prosecutorial Accountability
    • Race
    • Representation
    • Sentencing Alternatives
    • Victims' Families
  • Facts & Research
    • Fact Sheet
    • Death Penalty Census
    • Clemency
    • Crimes Punishable by Death
    • DPIC Reports
    • History of the Death Penalty
    • Innocence Database
    • Murder Rates
    • Public Opinion
    • Recent Legislative Activity
    • Religion
    • Sentencing Data
    • Student Research Center
    • United States Supreme Court
  • Executions
    • Executions Overview
    • Upcoming Executions
    • Execution Database
    • Methods of Execution
    • Botched Executions
    • Lethal Injection
  • Death Row
    • Death Row Overview
    • Conditions on Death Row
    • Foreign Nationals
    • Native Americans
    • Time on Death Row
    • Women
  • State & Federal Info
    • State by State
    • Federal Death Penalty
    • Military
  • About
    • Staff & Board of Directors
    • About Us
    • DPIC in the Media
    • DPIC Testimony
    • Press Releases
    • Work for DPIC
  • For the Media
  • Resources
    • Publications & Testimony
    • Related Websites
    • DPIC Podcasts
    • DPIC Reports
    • New Voices
    • En Español
  • For Educators
  • Fact Sheet
  • Donate

State And Federal Info

Ohio

History of the Death Penalty

Until 1885, executions were carried out by public hangings, which were conducted by individual counties. In 1885, death row and executions were moved to the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. The electric chair was first used in Ohio in 1897 and was used to execute 312 men and 3 women. The last person executed with the electric chair was Donald Reinbolt in 1963.

Famous Cases

Sandra Lockett was sentenced to death for her involvement in a robbery and murder. At the time, Ohio’s statute allowed judges in capital cases to consider only three mitigating factors. If none of those factors were found in a case, the defendant had to be sentenced to death. Lockett’s case was appealed to the Supreme Court. In Lockett v. Ohio (1978), the Court ruled that the sentencer in a capital case “not be precluded from considering, as a mitigating factor, any aspect of a defendant’s character or record and any of the circumstances of the offense that the defendant proffers as a basis for a sentence less than death.” Lockett’s sentence was overturned.

Richard Cooey challenged Ohio’s lethal injection protocol, saying that it would cause a severely painful death. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected his claim, and Cooey was executed on October 14, 2008.

Romell Broom was convicted of kidnapping and murder in 1984 and sentenced to death. His execution was scheduled for September 15, 2009. The execution team spent two hours searching for a suitable vein for Broom’s lethal injection, but failed to insert the IV. During the procedure, Broom tried to assist the team in finding a vein, but they were still unable to do so. The prison director contacted Governor Strickland, who issued a stay of execution in order to allow the state to evaluate the lethal injection procedure. Broom remains on Ohio’s death row.

Notable Exonerations

Joe D’Ambrosio was exonerated in 2012, 23 years after he was convicted. A federal District Court had first overturned D’Ambrosio’s conviction in 2006 because the state had withheld key evidence from the defense. The federal court originally allowed the state to re-prosecute him, but just before trial the state revealed the existence of even more important evidence and requested further delay. Additionally, the state did not divulge in a timely manner that the key witness against D’Ambrosio had died. In 2010, the District Court barred D’Ambrosio’s re-prosecution because of the prosecutors’ misconduct. On January 23, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the state’s appeal in the case, thus ending the capital case.

Timothy Howard and Gary Lamar James were sentenced to death in 1976 for a bank robbery in Columbus, Ohio, in which one of the bank guards was killed. Both men were released from prison in 2003 after new evidence was uncovered. Conflicting witness statements and previously unknown fingerprint evidence led the Franklin County prosecutor to dismiss all charges against Howard and James.

On November 21, 2014, Ricky Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman were released from prison. Prosecutors filed a motion to drop charges against Jackson, Bridgeman, and their co-defendant, Kwame Ajamu (formerly Ronnie Bridgeman), who had been released, but not exonerated, in 2003. A judge officially dismissed the charges against Jackson and Bridgeman on November 21, and against Ajamu on December 9.

The three men had been convicted of a 1975 murder on the testimony of a 12-year-old boy, who recently recanted, saying he had not witnessed the murder at all. All three defendants were sentenced to death. Upon his release, Jackson said, “The English language doesn’t even fit what I’m feeling. I’m on an emotional high. You sit in prison for so long and think about this day but when it actually comes you don’t know what you’re going to do, you just want to do something.”

Following his release, Bridgeman said, “The bitterness is over with; I carried that too long.” Jackson’s and Bridgeman’s 39 years in prison is the longest time between conviction and exoneration of any of those exonerated. Since 1973 there have been 149 exonerations of people sentenced to death in the U.S. including eight in Ohio. Kwame Ajamu remarked, “I was sentenced to die, as was Ricky and my brother. We were 17, 18, and 20. For a crime we didn’t do.”

Notable Clemencies

In 1991, Ohio Governor Richard Celeste commuted the sentences of eight inmates on Ohio’s death row, citing a “disturbing racial pattern” in sentencing.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1974, but the law was struck down as unconstitutional in 1978. The current law went into effect in 1981.

HB 160, a death penalty abolition bill, was introduced by Rep. Ted Celeste in the 129th General Assembly on March 15, 2011.

Ohio “Firsts”

Ohio was the first state to adopt a one-drug execution protocol. Ohio was also the first state to change from the one-drug protocol of sodium thiopental to pentobarbital.

In 2010, Ohio passed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill to curb wrongful convictions called the DNA Access Bill (128th GA, SB 77).

Other Interesting Facts

“Old Sparky,” as the electric chair came to be known, claimed the lives of 315 killers between 1897 and 1963, beginning with William Haas, 17, of Hamilton County and ending with Donald Reinbolt, 29, of Columbus.

Ohio had three botched executions in a four-year period:

Joseph Clark (May 2006)

Christopher Newton (May 2007)

Romell Broom (September 2009)

Although Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1974, it did not resume executions until 1999.

Cincinnati skyline.  Photo by Kenneth England.
Cincinnati sky­line. Photo by Kenneth England.

Resources

  • American Bar Association Ohio Death Penalty Assessment
  • Ohioans to Stop Executions
  • Department of Corrections
  • Ohio Parole Board Clemency Reports
  • Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association
  • Public defender’s office
  • Victims’ services
  • 2015 Year-End Statement from Ohioans to Stop Executions

Ohio Execution Totals Since 1976

News & Developments


Public Opinion

Dec 06, 2022

Midterm Elections: Moratorium Supporters, Reform Prosecutors Post Gains Despite Massive Campaign Efforts to Tie Reformers to Surge in Violent Crime

In a year that fea­tured mas­sive cam­paign adver­tis­ing attempt­ing to por­tray legal reform­ers as respon­si­ble for increas­es in vio­lent crime, can­di­dates com­mit­ted to crim­i­nal legal reform or who promised to con­tin­ue statewide mora­to­ria on exe­cu­tions p…

Midterm Elections: Moratorium Supporters, Reform Prosecutors Post Gains Despite Massive Campaign Efforts to Tie Reformers to Surge in Violent Crime

Race

Sep 01, 2022

Court Overturns Ohio Death Sentence After Defense Expert Testifies that One Quarter of Urban Black Men Should be Locked Up or Thrown Away

A fed­er­al appeals court in Ohio has over­turned the death sen­tence imposed on an African American defen­dant whose defense lawyer pre­sent­ed tes­ti­mo­ny from a clin­i­cal psy­chol­o­gist that one quar­ter of urban Black men were sociopaths w…

Court Overturns Ohio Death Sentence After Defense Expert Testifies that One Quarter of Urban Black Men Should be Locked Up or Thrown Away

News Brief

May 14, 2022

Kareem Jackson Receives Fourth Execution Reprieve in Ohio, Execution Date Re-Set for 2025

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has issued a reprieve to death-row pris­on­er Kareem Jackson, call­ing off his sched­uled September 15, 2022 exe­cu­tion and set­ting a new December 10, 2025 exe­cu­tion date. In a news release, t…

Kareem Jackson Receives Fourth Execution Reprieve in Ohio, Execution Date Re-Set for 2025

Representation

May 02, 2022

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Death Penalty Cases that Could Limit Access to Federal Court Review

The U.S. Supreme Court has heard argu­ment in two death penal­ty cas­es that present high­ly tech­ni­cal legal issues that could pro­found­ly affect the extent to which pris­on­ers con­vict­ed in state courts will have mean­ing­ful access to fe…

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Death Penalty Cases that Could Limit Access to Federal Court Review

News Brief

Feb 19, 2022

Ohio Governor Issues Three More Reprieves, Reschedules Executions for 2025

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has issued reprieves of three more exe­cu­tions that had been set to occur in 2022, resched­ul­ing them for 2025. In exec­u­tive orders issued February 18, 2022, DeWine halt­ed the exe­cu­tions of 

Ohio Governor Issues Three More Reprieves, Reschedules Executions for 2025

Recent Legislative Activity

Dec 02, 2021

New Podcast: Republican State Representative Jean Schmidt on Her Efforts to Abolish the Death Penalty in Ohio

In the December 2021 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center Deputy Director Ngozi Ndulue inter­views State Representative Jean Schmidt (pic­tured) about her work as a pri­ma­ry spon­sor of a bill in…

New Podcast: Republican State Representative Jean Schmidt on Her Efforts to Abolish the Death Penalty in Ohio

Capital Case Development

Oct 22, 2021

Second Ohio Prisoner Taken Off Death Row Under New Serious Mental Illness Law

A sec­ond Ohio death-row pris­on­er has been resen­tenced to life with­out parole under a new state law that makes indi­vid­u­als who were seri­ous­ly men­tal­ly ill at the time of their crime inel­i­gi­ble for the death penalty. 

Second Ohio Prisoner Taken Off Death Row Under New Serious Mental Illness Law

Capital Case Development

Oct 19, 2021

Ohio Supreme Court Rules Against Death-Row Prisoners in Administrative Challenge to Lethal-Injection Process

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the state’s exe­cu­tion process against a pro­ce­dur­al chal­lenge by two of the state’s death-row pris­on­ers that sought to inval­i­date Ohio’s lethal-injec­tion pro­to­col. A unan­i­mous Ohio Supreme Court 

Ohio Supreme Court Rules Against Death-Row Prisoners in Administrative Challenge to Lethal-Injection Process

Innocence

Sep 28, 2021

Death-Row Exonerees in Ohio, Oklahoma Receive Million Dollar Payments for Their Wrongful Convictions

Two men exon­er­at­ed from death row, one in Ohio and one in Oklahoma, have received mil­lion ‑dol­lar pay­outs for their wrong­ful con­vic­tions and death sen­tences. Both were tried and con­vict­ed in coun­ties with long his…

Death-Row Exonerees in Ohio, Oklahoma Receive Million Dollar Payments for Their Wrongful Convictions

Arbitrariness

Sep 17, 2021

OUTLIER COUNTIES: Ohio Death-Row Prisoner Challenges Sentence Based on Hamilton County Race Discrimination Study

An African-American man sen­tenced to death in Hamilton County, Ohio in 1999 for the mur­der of a white man is seek­ing to over­turn his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence based on evi­dence from a recent­ly pub­lished study …

OUTLIER COUNTIES: Ohio Death-Row Prisoner Challenges Sentence Based on Hamilton County Race Discrimination Study
View More

View Information by State

Additional Information


  • Death Penalty: Yes
  • Number of Executions Since 1976: 56
  • Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include federal and military executions): 438
  • Current Death Row Population: 134
  • Women on Death Row: 1
  • Number of Innocent People Freed From Death Row: 11
  • Number of Clemencies Granted: 21
  • Date of Reinstatement (following Furman v. Georgia): January 1, 1974
  • First Execution After Reinstatement: 1999
  • Location of Death Row (Men): Chillicothe Correctional Institution, Ross County and Ohio State Penitentiary, Youngstown
  • Location of Death Row (Women): Ohio Reformatory for Women, Marysville
  • Location of Executions: Lucasville
  • Capital: Columbus
  • Region: Midwest
  • Population: 11,799,448*
  • Murder Rate (per 100,000 population): 4.6
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option?: Yes
  • Can a defendant get death for a felony in which s/he was not responsible for the murder?: Yes
  • Method of Execution: Injection, One Drug Protocol
  • How is Sentence Determined?: Jury
  • Clemency Process: Governor has authority to grant clemency with nonbinding advice of Board of Pardons and Paroles
  • Governor: Mike DeWine

Join our mailing list

Death Penalty Information Center
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Policy Issues
  • Arbitrariness
  • Costs
  • Deterrence
  • Innocence
  • Intellectual Disability
  • Juveniles
  • International
  • Mental Illness
  • Prosecutorial Accountability
  • Race
  • Representation
  • Sentencing Alternatives
  • Victims' Families
Facts & Research
  • Fact Sheet
  • Death Penalty Census
  • Clemency
  • Crimes Punishable by Death
  • DPIC Reports
  • History of the Death Penalty
  • Innocence Database
  • Murder Rates
  • Public Opinion
  • Recent Legislative Activity
  • Religion
  • Sentencing Data
  • Student Research Center
  • United States Supreme Court
Executions
  • Executions Overview
  • Upcoming Executions
  • Execution Database
  • Methods of Execution
  • Botched Executions
  • Lethal Injection
Death Row
  • Death Row Overview
  • Conditions on Death Row
  • Foreign Nationals
  • Native Americans
  • Time on Death Row
  • Women
State & Federal Info
  • State by State
  • Federal Death Penalty
  • Military
About
  • About Us
  • Staff & Board of Directors
  • DPIC in the Media
  • DPIC Testimony
  • Press Releases
  • Work for DPIC
For the Media
Resources
  • Related Websites
  • Publications & Testimony
  • DPIC Podcasts
  • DPIC Reports
  • New Voices
  • En Español
For Educators
Fact Sheet
Donate

Death Penalty Information Center | 1701 K Street NW Suite 205 Washington, DC 20006

Phone: 202-289-2275 | Email: [email protected]

Privacy Policy | ©2023 Death Penalty Information Center