The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Ohio鈥檚 death penalty law.
Attorneys for 54-year old Maurice Mason claimed that since the US Supreme Court threw out Florida鈥檚 death penalty because it gave execution sentencing power to judges and not juries, Ohio鈥檚 law is also unconstitutional, because judges impose sentences. But Marion County Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Collins told the Ohio Supreme Court in January that the law says a judge can only sentence someone to death on a jury鈥檚 recommendation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 proper, and it is constitutional.鈥�
, saying the judge鈥檚 authority comes directly from the jury鈥檚 verdict. Mason鈥檚 death sentence for raping and killing Robin Dennis in Marion in 1993 was overturned by a federal court 鈥� he鈥檚 awaiting a new sentencing hearing.
