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Am. H. B. No. 362As Passed by the SenateAs Passed by the Senate
124th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2001-2002 |
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REPRESENTATIVES Trakas, Seaver, Husted, D. Miller, Jerse, Kearns, Damschroder, Perry, Barnes, Latta, Sullivan, Gilb, Schneider, Britton, Hartnett, Ogg, Sferra, Carano, Olman, McGregor, Widowfield, Collier, Schmidt
SENATORS Oelslager, Spada
A BILL
To amend sections 2949.22 and 2949.25 of the Revised
Code to eliminate electrocution as an option for
the execution of a death sentence, to require the
use of lethal injection as the means of executing
all death sentences, to provide a procedure for
determining the manner of execution of a sentence
of death if lethal injection is determined to be
unconstitutional, and to declare an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2949.22 and 2949.25 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2949.22. (A)
Except as provided in division
(B)(1)(C)
of
this section, a death sentence shall be executed by causing
a
current of electricity, of sufficient intensity to cause death,
to
pass through the body of the person upon whom the sentence was
imposed. The application of the current shall be continued until
the person upon whom the sentence was imposed is dead. The
warden
of the correctional institution in which the sentence is to be
executed or another person selected by the director of
rehabilitation and correction shall ensure that the death
sentence
is executed. (B)(1) Any person sentenced to death may elect to be
executed by lethal injection instead of by electrocution as
described in division (A) of this section. The election shall be
made no later than one week prior to the scheduled date of
execution of the person by filing a written notice of the
election
with the department of rehabilitation and correction.
If a person
sentenced to death timely files with the department a
written
notice of an election to be executed by lethal injection,
the
person's death sentence shall be executed by causing the
application to the person, upon whom the sentence was imposed, of
a lethal injection of a drug or
combination of drugs of sufficient
dosage to quickly and
painlessly
cause death
instead of by
electrocution as described
in division (A) of this section. The
application of the drug or
combination of drugs shall be continued
until the person is dead.
The warden of the correctional
institution in which the sentence is to
be executed or another
person selected by the director of
rehabilitation and correction
shall ensure that the death
sentence is executed.
If a person sentenced to death does not timely file with
the
department a written notice of election to be executed by
lethal
injection, his death sentence shall be
executed by
electrocution
in accordance with division (A) of this section.
(2) Neither a person's timely filing of a written notice
of
election under division (B)(1) of this section nor a person's
failure to file or timely file a written notice of election under
that division shall affect or waive any right of appeal or
postconviction relief that may be available under the laws of
this
state or the United States relative to the conviction for
which
the sentence of death was imposed upon the person or
relative to
the imposition or execution of that sentence of
death.
(C)(B) A death sentence shall be executed within the walls
of
the state correctional institution designated by the director
of
rehabilitation and correction as the location for executions,
within an enclosure to be prepared for that purpose, under the
direction of the warden of the institution or, in
his
the
warden's
absence, a
deputy warden, and on the day designated by the judge
passing
sentence or otherwise designated by a court in the course
of any
appellate or postconviction proceedings. The enclosure
shall
exclude public view.
(D) If a death sentence is required to be executed by
lethal
injection because the person sentenced to death elected to
be
executed by lethal injection pursuant to division (B)(1) of
this
section and if the execution of a death sentence by lethal
injection is determined to be unconstitutional, the death
sentence
shall be executed by causing a current of electricity,
of
sufficient intensity to cause death, to pass through the body
of
the person upon whom the sentence was imposed. The
application of
the current shall be continued until the person is
dead. The
warden of the state correctional institution in which the sentence
is to be executed or another person selected by the director of
rehabilitation and correction shall ensure that the death
sentence
is executed.
(C) If a person is sentenced to death, and if the execution
of a death sentence by lethal injection has been determined to be
unconstitutional, the death sentence shall be executed by using
any different manner of execution prescribed by law subsequent to
the effective date of this amendment instead of by causing the
application to the person of a lethal injection of a drug or
combination of drugs of sufficient dosage to quickly and
painlessly cause death, provided that the subsequently prescribed
different manner of execution has not been determined to be
unconstitutional. The use of the subsequently prescribed
different manner of execution shall be continued until the person
is dead. The warden of the state correctional institution in
which the sentence is to be executed or another person selected by
the director of rehabilitation and correction shall ensure that
the sentence of death is executed. (E)
(D) No change in the law made by
the amendment to this
section that took effect on October 1, 1993, or by this amendment
constitutes a declaration by or belief of the general assembly
that execution of a death sentence by electrocution is a cruel
and
unusual punishment proscribed by the Ohio Constitution or the
United States Constitution.
Sec. 2949.25. (A) At the execution of a death sentence,
only the following persons may be present: (1) The warden of the state correctional institution in
which the
sentence is executed or a deputy warden, any other
person
selected by the director of rehabilitation and correction
to
ensure that the death sentence is executed, any persons
necessary
to execute the death sentence by
electrocution or lethal
injection, and the number of correction officers that the warden
thinks necessary; (2) The sheriff of the county in which the prisoner was
tried and convicted; (3) The director of rehabilitation and correction, or
his
the
director's
agent; (4) Physicians of the state correctional institution in
which the
sentence is executed; (5) The
clergyman
clergyperson in attendance upon the
prisoner, and not
more than three other persons, to be designated
by the prisoner,
who are not confined in any state institution; (6) Not more than three persons to be designated by the
immediate family of the victim; (7) Representatives of the news media as authorized by the
director of rehabilitation and correction. (B) The director shall authorize at least one
representative
of a newspaper, at least one representative of a
television
station, and at least one representative of a radio
station to be
present at the execution of the sentence under
division (A)(7) of
this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 2949.22 and 2949.25 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency
measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is that
it is urgently in the public interest to eliminate electrocution
as an option for the execution of a death sentence before any
execution is carried out. Therefore, this act shall go into
immediate effect.
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