The Columbus Dispatch
What crimes are eligible for death?Defendant must be over 18 and indicted on a charge of aggravated murder committed in one of the following circumstances:
- assassination
- for hire
- to escape detection, apprehension, trial, or punishment of another crime
- while in detention, or escaping detention
- prior murder or attempted murder conviction, or multiple killings
- knowingly killed a law-enforcement officer
- defendant was also engaged in kidnapping, rape, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery or aggravated burglary.
- a potential witness in a criminal case is killed to prevent testimony
- killing a child younger than 13
- terrorism
A defendant has the right to a jury trial, but if he waives that, a three-judge panel decides guilt and sentence.
Jurors must be "death qualified," or, his or her views can't be so strongly pro- or anti-death penalty that they cannot abide by the oath.
A death-penalty trial has two parts, the guilt phase and sentencing phase.
- Guilt phase: The jury, or panel of judges, must unanimously agree on the defendant's guilt to the murder, and the aggravating circumstance. Otherwise, it can result in an acquittal or a hung jury.
- Sentencing/mitigation phase: Defense attorneys present mitigating factors, including: the nature and circumstances of the offense and the defendant's background. This can include that the defendant was coerced, lacked mental capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, was young, lacked a criminal history, was not the principal offender in the murder or any other relevant factors.
If the jury doesn't, it can impose life without parole, life with parole after 30 years, or life with parole after 25 years.
Even with a death sentence from the jury, the court will review the evidence, and can impose one of the life-sentence options if the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating circumstance.
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