That's the title of an article by the Canadian Press via Google News. LINK
On the surface, Laqwan Scandrick seemed a perfect candidate for a charge carrying the possibility of a death sentence - he shot a man to death during a robbery in Springfield in 2006.
Under Ohio law, committing a homicide during an aggravated robbery is one of several elements allowing the state to seek capital punishment.
Clark County Prosecutor Stephen Schumaker, however, took advantage of a new law that allows prosecutors to seek the second-toughest punishment available for aggravated murders - life with no chance of parole - without first seeking a death sentence. Previously, the sentence was an option only for jurors weighing an alternative to a death sentence.
Prosecutors around Ohio, citing the ability to pursue harsh punishment without going through the complication and expense of a death penalty case, are starting to take advantage of the 2005 law, according to a review of state records by The Associated Press.
The number of death penalty indictments sought statewide dropped 32 per cent from 2004 to 2007, according to figures compiled by the Ohio Public Defender's Office.
In contrast, the number of life without parole sentences rose by more than two-thirds in the three years since the law took effect compared with the three years before, when 45 inmates entered prison with the permanent life sentence, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ten offenders have received the sentence so far this year.
"Life without parole means it's over," said Don White, the Clermont County prosecutor. "The only way they'll get out is in a pine box or if the governor lets them out."
And:
North Carolina enacted a similar law in 2001. But Texas, which often executes more offenders in a year than all other states combined, only recently allowed life without parole as an alternate sentence in death penalty cases. The state does not permit it in non-death penalty cases.
And:
The North Carolina law gives prosecutors the option of seeking life without parole in first-degree murder cases. Previously, all first-degree murder charges automatically carried the possibility of a death sentence.
The state can't say yet what the law's effect is on death penalty cases. But the number of death sentences there has dropped from 14 in 2001 to three in 2007.
The related AP article was noted in this post.
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