Ohio cabbie loses death penalty appeal

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a cab driver sentenced to be executed for robbing and killing a woman who had often been his passenger.

The court Thursday unanimously rejected most of the grounds for appeal, finding that Roland Davis received a fair hearing when he was sentenced to death, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Davis' lawyers argued that prosecutors tried to sway the jury by emphasizing Elizabeth Sheeler's age, 86, and showing them her photograph.

Sheeler was stabbed and battered in her home in Newark. Davis was convicted of burglarizing her apartment after killing her.

The justices agreed with two of the three aggravating circumstances that the jury found to justify the death penalty -- that the crime was committed during an aggravated burglary and an aggravated robbery. They disagreed on whether Davis kidnapped Sheeler.