Ohio Execution Delayed

I still can't wrap my head around what exactly the downside is to allowing the condemned the right to DNA tests that could prove them innocent. In any case, for any crime, if there is any evidence that could prove a defendant is innocent, it should be looked at. You know the saying, "everyone is entitled to their opinion"? Well, in this case, no. If you disagree with testing DNA that could possibly set a man free, even if 999 times out of a thousand, the DNA proves guilt and not innocence, your opinion is wrong and you should probably take up residence in Haiti or North Korea.

Fort Mill Times | FortMillTimes.com - Ohio execution delayed until high court ruling - Fort Mill, SC

A condemned killer who wanted more time to prove his claim of innocence received a reprieve of weeks or months Tuesday after a federal appeals court stopped his April execution. The state said it wouldn't appeal for now.

Brett Hartmann, 34, was scheduled to die by injection April 7 for killing a woman who was stabbed more than a hundred times, then had her hands cut off.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a brief reprieve was appropriate to determine whether Hartmann could succeed with his claim that he did not murder 46-year-old Winda Snipes in 1997.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court granted the delay while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether prisoners have a constitutional right to test DNA evidence in their cases. A decision is expected this spring.

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