Ohio: Request Number 290

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting on the case of 44-year old Brad Tapp who is serving a 14-year sentence for two counts of felonious assault. Tapp has already dished out $20,000 in civil suit verdicts to the two men he attacked in the aftermath of a wedding. Described as "a successful businessman with a six-figure salary on the outside" of prison, Tapp can boast that his trial judge has signed two affidavits stating that the sentence he gave to Tapp was too harsh. Two veteran police deputies support clemency on his behalf. In addition, the Dipatch reports that, three years ago, the Ohio Parole Board "unanimously recommended" that Tapp be granted executive clemency. But former Gov. Bob Taft declined.

Tapp has earned two degrees in theology while in prison and says that he has been "born again." Last week, the Board, once again, recommended clemency. Now all eyes are on Gov. Ted Strickland. But there's just one problem: there are at least 289 clemency requests hanging around on Strickland's desk and they are all "ahead" of Tapp's. The Dispatch also reports Strickland has used the clemency power "just three times, all in death-penalty cases, since taking office nearly 18 months ago." See full story here.

The President: Request (Updated)

Robert Steve Vukelic won the Democratic nomination to a Jefferson County (OH) commission seat, despite the fact he was convicted of a felony in April of 2001 and served six months in a federal prison. Convicted felons are prohibited from holding public office, so Vukelic is counting on a presidential pardon to extract him from his dilemma. On the other hand, the Department of Justice says that it has not even received an application for pardon. Meanwhile, Vukelic is somehow confident that, although the "wheels of justice move slowly," there is "no doubt" that he will have the entire issue "settled in the next eight months." He also adds that the original charge against him was “weak." Up at the Department of Justice the word is that it is “certainly not unusual" for clemency applications to "take two or three years.” See story here. Also see previous post here: The President: Request

Ohio: Request

Supporters of prisoners convicted in connection with the 1993 Lucasville prison riot are calling for a "National Unity Day of Action." Prisoners throughout Ohio and other states are writing to Ohio’s Gov. Ted Strickland to demand that he overturn convictions. Supporters plan to flood Gov. Strickland’s office with calls, faxes, e-mails and letters demanding pardons for these prisoners, 5 of whom are on death row and 25 of whom have been sentenced up to life. See article here. For addtional background on the riot, go here and here.

Ohio: Commutation of Sentence

The Governor of Ohio (Ted Strickland-D) has commuted the sentence of 61-year old John Spirko to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Governor said the execution (scheduled for the 24th of this month) would have been "inappropriate" given the fact that there was "slim residual doubt" as to Spirko's guilt. Convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Betty Jane Mottinger (a postal worker) almost 30 years ago, Strickland received seven reprieves as a result of DNA testing (a state record). The Ohio Parole Board twice recommended against clemency. Each time the vote of the Board was unanimous. In the past, Spirko's lawyers (Washington, D.C.-based Tom Hill and Alvin Dunn) have requested a pardon, a conditional pardon or a commutation of sentence to time served. As they put it, ''There can be no joy in the commutation of an innocent man's sentence to life without parole." One resident said, "A lot of people in the area don’t think he did it. He was just an easy mark." Spirko had just gotten out of prison for killing a 72-year old woman during a robbery and was easily convictable. See story reported in the Toledo Blade (here), the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (here), the Associated Press (here),the Cincinnati Enquirer (here),and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (here).