John Spirko is sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on September 20 in Ohio but the state’s Attorney General, Jim Petro, has rec­om­mend­ed fur­ther review of the case because his senior deputy mis­rep­re­sent­ed evi­dence to the Parole Board. The Board vot­ed 6 – 3 against lenien­cy for Spirko, who received a death sen­tence for a 1982 mur­der. Other nation­al lead­ers, such as for­mer FBI Director William S. Sessions, have also urged the state to inves­ti­gate the case more close­ly. In a let­ter to Ohio Governor Bob Taft, Sessions asked that Spirko’s sen­tence be com­mut­ed, not­ing, ​“I believe that John Spirko may have been unjust­ly con­vict­ed.” Sessions is one of four retired fed­er­al judges who have ques­tioned Spirko’s con­vic­tion. Defense attor­neys assert that Spirko’s con­vic­tion was based on faulty eye­wit­ness iden­ti­fi­ca­tion and the tes­ti­mo­ny of jail­house infor­mants who received lenien­cy and later recanted. 

(Dayton Daily News, September 6, 2005). See Innocence. Update: Spirko’s exe­cu­tion has been stayed at least until Nov. 15 to give the Parole Board a chance to con­duct a fur­ther hear­ing.

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