

Renewed focus on death penalty welcome

1:57 PM, May 16, 2014  |  Comments
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There is nothing our government does that's more powerful than taking a life, even when the life belongs to a cold-blooded killer.

That's why we welcome the renewed focus on the application of America's death penalty laws, despite the fact public support for executing killers remains near 70 percent.

To be clear, we support the death penalty if there is clear evidence - beyond reasonable doubt - that the defendant committed the crime, the police investigation was handled 100 percent properly and both prosecutors and defense attorneys followed every rule.

Although many critics focus on how executions are handled by Ohio and other states struggling to complete lethal injections with new drugs, we're far more concerned at making sure only the guilty are executed.

Our fundamental concern relates to how cases are built by police and prosecutors, realizing the vast majority of law enforcement officials do their work professionally in search of true justice. However, that's not always the case.

That's why a majority of an Ohio death penalty task force wants to require recording of all police interviews with suspects from beginning to end, according to a draft report issued in April. Fifteen states already have a similar law. Proponents cite a case where a man confessed to a brutal rape and murder "after an intense nine-hour interrogation by police officers who threatened he would die by lethal injection if he did not admit to the crime."

To us, such confessions are questionable evidence that a jury should skeptically consider unless there is other supporting evidence. A case built only on a confession made under duress probably is one where the death penalty should be off the table.

Police, who often face challenging circumstances while investigating homicide cases, worry any changes pushed by defense attorneys could make their jobs tougher. They want to make sure killers are at least locked up.

Although we certainly don't want to make police work more challenging, we also never should accept the possibility of an innocent person being executed. If these cases can't meet a higher standard, life in prison is an acceptable alternative.

We don't see any problem with requiring recorded interviews for all homicide cases when such interviews are conducted.

Remember a study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found at least 4 percent of defendants sentenced to death in the U.S. likely are innocent. It does happen.

Ohio would be wise to take whatever steps are necessary to guarantee only the guilty are executed.

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