CINCINNATI — An unlikely array of Republicans and Democrats, attorneys general and federal and state judges and prosecutors has lined up to fight the execution of a death row inmate many believe to be innocent.
Dozens of former officials have joined death penalty opponents to appeal to Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, a Democrat, to spare the life of the inmate, Kevin Keith. They say emerging evidence of investigative errors, inadequate defense and the existence of another suspect merit a pardon or at least a new trial.
The diverse group, including some who generally support the death penalty, is scheduled to appear at a news conference at the Statehouse in Columbus on Tuesday, ahead of a clemency hearing on Wednesday.
Mr. Keith, 46, was convicted of murdering two women and a 4-year-old girl and wounding a man and two children in February 1994. Prosecutors said he sprayed gunfire through an apartment in Bucyrus, Ohio, to retaliate against a relative of some of the victims who cooperated with a drug raid.
Mr. Keith is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Sept. 15. But many believe he did not commit the crime.
Source: The New York Times, August, 10, 2010
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