Federal court grants stay of execution for fourth Ohio inmate

The US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Thursday issued a stay of execution for Ohio death row inmate Kenneth Biros, as the state continues to review its lethal injection procedures. Biros is the fourth Ohio death inmate to be granted a stay of execution since the failed attempt to execute Romell Broom in September 2009. Along with Broom, the executions Darryl Durr and Lawrence Reynolds have also been postponed. Biros was convicted of a 1991 murder and attempted rape and was scheduled to be executed on December 8.

In July, Ohio conducted the 1000th execution by lethal injection in the US since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia. In June, Ohio first used its new lethal injection method, called "set-to-die." The procedure requires officials to shake and call out to the prisoner after a sedative has been administered, and a second dose can then be given, if necessary. A de facto national moratorium on the death penalty ended last year when the US Supreme Court ruled in Baze v. Rees that the three-drug lethal injection sequence used in most states does not violate the Constitution.

(Published by Jurist - October 20, 2009)