Criminal Law
Ohio Governor Postpones the Last Execution Scheduled For 2022
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has postponed the last execution that was scheduled for this year, pushing the October date for Quisi Bryan, convicted of killing a Cleveland police officer, to early in 2026.
The move once again called into question the functionality of capital punishment in the state. With an unofficial moratorium in place, a veteran defense attorney recently argued there’s no point in holding a death penalty trial for his client, accused in the 2016 massacre of a southern Ohio family.
“Why should we have to go through a death penalty trial when Ohio doesn’t have the death penalty?” attorney John Parker said June 21 at a hearing for George Wagner IV, charged in the killing of eight members of the Rhoden family.
