COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Ohio officials say they are taking a long look at the state's execution process, with some calling for a review of all death row cases.
The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch cites the case of Kevin Keith, 46, who has been on Ohio's death row since 1994. His execution is scheduled in September for a triple murder in a Bucyrus, Ohio, apartment, including a 4-year-old girl.
Like most death row inmates, he claims he is innocent and cites alleged police and trial improprieties.
Though many officials may doubt his innocence, they are having doubts about his case, the Dispatch said, including Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.
Strickland, who has the power to grant clemency, says, "It has circumstances that I find troubling. We are looking at that case very seriously." Officials cite a number of incidents they say cast doubt on whether Keith was treated fairly.
One of the discrepancies cited by the newspaper: A survivor at the shooting scene testified a man named "Kevin" shot him and also picked Keith out of a photo lineup. But he told four witnesses near the crime scene he didn't know who shot him, the Dispatch said.
Later, an officer called the witness at Grant Medical Center in Columbus and gave him the names of four Kevins. The officer said the witness was 75 percent sure Keith was the last name of the shooter -- but Keith's attorneys say the call was made on an unrecorded line.
The officials calling for death row case reviews include two former prison directors and three high-level Republicans -- Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, former Attorney General Jim Petro and state Sen. David Goodman of New Albany, Ohio, the newspaper said.
There have been five death-sentence commutations in the state by two governors since 2003, passage of a DNA law to avoid wrongful convictions and exoneration of three inmates because of new DNA test results, the newspaper said.
