COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 14 (UPI) -- Activist lawyers have gone to federal court to try to head off the impending execution of a death-row inmate in Ohio.
The state branch of the American Civil Liberties Union contends Darryl Durr of Cuyahoga County should not be put to death Tuesday because authorities have not allowed testing for DNA evidence on his 16-year-old victim's necklace, The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday. The lawyers' advocacy group is seeking a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court until it is decided whether Durr has "a constitutional right to a mandatory appeal of his denial of DNA testing."
"Death is the most severe punishment society can give and deserves the highest level of scrutiny to ensure no innocent person is wrongly convicted," the Dispatch quoted state ACLU Legal Director James Hardiman as saying. "To deny those facing execution the same level of due process given to other inmates will only increase the likelihood of a grave injustice."
County officials have labeled the TRO request a "stall tactic" and the state intends to have the suit dismissed, the Dispatch said.
Durr, 46, was convicted in the 1988 rape and slaying of Angel O'Nan of Elyria.
