Ohio Supreme Court Justice Speaks Out Against Death Penalty

An Ohio Supreme Court justice who helped write the state's death penalty law testified at the statehouse Wednesday that the law is not working. 

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer said that he believes life without parole is a more fitting punishment for the worst crimes and that the state should ban the death penalty, 10TV's Danielle Elias reported.

"I have concluded that the death sentence makes no sense to me at this point, when you can have life without the possibility of parole," Pfeifer said. "It gets people off the street for a lifetime, and I think it's the appropriate penalty for someone who commits murder."

Pfeifer said that it was his duty to call attention to the bill.

"We have a duty to step forward and advocate for changes we think would lead to an improvement," Pfeifer said.  House Bill 160 calls for the abolishment of the death penalty in the state of Ohio.

There currently are 148 inmates on death row, and all but one are men, Elias reported. Ohio has executed 386 inmates since 1803 and three inmates this year.  Franklin County Prosecutor Ron

O'Brien said Tuesday that he was in favor of keeping the death penalty as an option the same day that a grand jury indicted Daniel Teitelbaum on charges of aggravated burglary and aggravated murder.

Teitelbaum is accused of killing his business partner Paul Horn in March.  The decision came in the wake of the always contentious battle regarding the ethics of capital punishment, Elias reported.

Melinda Dawson, who also testified on Wednesday, told 10TV News that she realized that the system was flawed after her husband was charged with murder.

"In June of 2008, my mother Judith Johnson was brutally attacked, raped and murdered in her home," Dawson said.

Her husband was accused in the crime and faced the death penalty. 

"The problem with that was he was innocent, and I knew that," Dawson said. 

Dawson said that she pushed for another man's DNA to be tested. After more than seven years, the true killer was convicted, Elias reported. 

Dawson said that she believed the death penalty should be abolished and backs new legislation proposed by state Rep. Ted Celeste (D-Grandview). 

"If one person is wrongfully convicted and receives the death penalty, that is unacceptable," Dawson said. 

Celeste said that not only is there room for error in capital punishment, but that is costs 10 times more.  

"Whether you believe it or not, we all are equal participants because it's state sanctioned killing," Celeste said.  

Celeste said that he favors life without parole.  

O'Brien said that while life without parole is a valid option, so is the death penalty.

"I think that option should be available to be used in the worst of the worst cases," O'Brien said. 

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