Death Penalty Debate

An Ohio Supreme Court and Ohio State Bar Association task force studying the death penalty will this spring recommend the biggest overhaul of Ohio’s capital punishment statutes since they were adopted in 1981. One guarantee, from the task force chair: "It'll be more expensive." That continues a debate about the death penalty, both its humaneness and its significant cost to taxpayers. Explore opinions, stats and cost of the death penalty on this page by clicking between the four sections below.

  • EXPERT VIEWS
  • WHAT IT COSTS
  • OHIO EXECUTIONS
  • U.S. EXECUTIONS

Strong Opinions

Our reporters contacted numerous officials, former inmates, experts and victim family members to ask their opinions about the death penalty in Ohio. Click on a name in the menu to view video or quotes, or click on the frame to see the next video or quote.

  • Jim Buchy

    State Representative, R-Greenville

  • Joe Byrne

    Byrne is a former supporter of the death penalty who now opposes it. His wife, Sherry, was abducted, raped and murdered in 1985. Her killer, David Brewer of Greene County, was executed in 2003. In a telephone interview, Joe said he now views the death penalty and the appeals process as a waste of taxpayer's money.

  • Terry Collins

    Oversaw 33 executions as a warden and state prisons director

    "If new evidence comes out, we can reverse life without parole. We certainly cannot reverse the death penalty after an execution."

  • Joe D'Ambrosio

    Spent 22 years on Ohio's death row before his conviction was overturned

    "Always said I never did it, from day one, but nobody listens to you. If you don't have power money or influence and you get wrapped up in the criminal justice system, you're in trouble."
    ...
    "The things that I've lost I can never get back. I lost everything from an education to having a decent job to having a family and children."

  • Joe Deters

    Hamilton County Prosecutor

    "Victims' families deserve justice and sometimes the cases are so bad the only thing that gets them justice and the community justice is the death penalty."
    ...
    (On cost): "(Death penalty cases) cost more because it is dragged out as long as possible. Every continuance is requested, every motion there is more requests for delay, and the people that are causing the delay use the cost of death penalty litigation as a reason to get rid of it."

  • Richard Dieter

    Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center

    "The one conclusion they (cost studies) all have is that the death penalty is more expensive than life in imprisonment, which is not what you would think instinctively ... All of the studies have found there's a net cost to the taxpayers of having the death penalty because of having all of the legal expenses."

  • Mat Heck

    Montgomery County Prosecutor

    "We always review the facts and circumstances relating to the crime, the past criminal conduct of the defendant, and the defendant's mental capacity. We also give the defense attorney representing the defendant the opportunity to provide us with evidence of mitigating factors, if any, before presenting death penalty cases to the Grand Jury."
    ...
    (On cost): "Death penalty cases are very expensive, primarily due to the expense of appointed defense counsel and appointed defense experts."

  • Derrick Jamison

    One of three men who were released from Death Row after the courts tossed out their convictions

    "I ain't been to jail. People on Death Row -- we've been to hell and back."
    ...
    "It is wrong and it's costing all this money. Life without parole is a lot cheaper and if you make a mistake you can go get them out of jail. If you have the death penalty, you can’t say 'Oops, we made a mistake.' And then go get them out of the grave."
    ...
    "I think the death penalty is not just a miscarriage of justice. It's a human rights violation."

  • Dennis Lieberman

    Attorney who has argued 23 death penalty cases

    "The death penalty is cold blooded killing. It is cold blooded, and we are better than that."
    ...
    "I would say (the cost of prosecuting) is at least the same (as the cost of defense) if not more. There's a heightened awareness of death penalty cases. They (police and prosecutors) look at it under a magnifying glass. The investigations are usually more thorough, more complete, just because it's a death penalty case."

  • Paul Pfeifer

    Ohio Supreme Court justice who wrote Ohio's death penalty law when he was in the legislature 33 years ago and now is against it

  • Mark Spencer

    Awaiting execution of the man who killed his sister and nephew

    "I think he should be executed. If you keep him in prison and don't put him to death, I'm fine with that. (But) there's a chance he may get out of prison and he may hurt somebody else. Tax dollars are wasted in every area of the United States, these tax dollars aren't wasted because they're keeping somebody off the street, keeping them from harming someone else."

  • Dennis Terez

    Federal public defender for Ohio

    "I've never seen a study that says life imprisonment costs more than the death penalty ... If we could take that out of the equation, that could free up resources in some other areas ... There are people in prison today who are serving punishments that are excessively long and could be reduced but they can't get representation so that reduction won't occur and we won't get the savings."

  • Rudy Wehner

    Montgomery County public defender

    "(Compared to a life sentence, death penalty cases represent) an exponential increase in expenditures, it's an exponential increase in hours, it's an exponential increase in every motion, every filing you make in court, every hearing above and beyond trials, expert witnesses. It's dramatic the difference between the two because life and death are at stake."

  • Kevin Werner

    Executive Director, Ohioans to Stop Executions

  • Reginald Wilkinson

    Former Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

  • Tim Young

    Ohio Public Defender

    "The death penalty is a failed system of justice. We have been unable to even handle it fairly. We have geographical disparities. We have racial disparities. There are those who say it's like a lightning strike whether you get a death penalty sentence ... After 30 years of (capital punishment) in Ohio, we have not been able to address any of those issues."

What it costs

Ohio has 165 active dealth penalty cases. Here are some of the annual costs associated with executions.

    • $842K
    • Annual cost for seven attorneys and two paralegals in the Ohio Attorney General’s capital crimes unit
    • $1.35M
    • Annual cost for 14 attorneys and four other staff in the Ohio Public Defender’s death penalty division
    • $2.5M
    • Annual cost paid to appointed defense attorneys to represent indigent Ohioans in capital cases
    • $3.88M
    • Budget for public defender attorneys on capital cases in federal court
    • $8.3M
    • Prison costs for 138 Death Row inmates, though that figure is likely higher since they are held in single cells and under tight security protocol
    • Unknown
    • The high cost to county prosecutors and the courts.

Ohio executions

Ohio has executed 53 inmates since reinstituting the death penalty in 1999. The table below displays the inmates who have been executed and details about them and their crimes.

Inmate County DOB Crime year Execution date Age when executed Years on death row
McGuire, Dennis Preble February 10, 1960 1989 January 16, 2014 52 24
Mitts, Harry Cuyahoga June 18, 1952 1994 September 25, 2013 61 19
Smith, Steven Richland February 9, 1967 1998 May 1, 2013 46 15
Treesh, Frederick Lake April 12, 1964 1984 March 6, 2013 48 29
Hartman, Brett Summit June 29, 1974 1997 November 13, 2012 38 15
Palmer, Donald Belmont February 11, 1965 1989 September 20, 2012 47 23
Wiles, Mark Portage March 11, 1963 1985 April 18, 2012 49 27
Brooks, Reginald Cuyahoga March 20, 1945 1982 November 15, 2011 66 29
Bedford, Daniel Lee Hamilton September 16, 1947 1984 May 17, 2011 63 27
Carter, Clarence Hamilton March 9, 1962 1989 April 12, 2011 49 22
Baston, Johnnie Lucas February 18, 1974 1994 March 10, 2011 37 17
Spisak, Frank Cuyahoga June 6, 1951 1982 February 17, 2011 59 29
Benge, Michael Butler August 7, 1961 1993 October 6, 2010 49 17
Davie, Roderick Trumbull October 6, 1971 1991 August 10, 2010 38 19
Garner, William Hamilton September 26, 1972 1992 July 13, 2010 37 18
Beuke, Michael Hamilton February 14, 1962 1983 May 13, 2010 48 27
Durr, Darryl Cuyahoga June 26, 1963 1988 April 20, 2010 46 22
Reynolds, Lawrence Summit June 2, 1966 1994 March 16, 2010 43 16
Brown, Mark Mahoning November 13, 1972 1994 February 4, 2010 37 16
Smith, Vernon Lucas April 7, 1972 1993 January 7, 2010 37 17
Biros, Kenneth Trumbull June 24, 1968 1991 December 8, 2009 41 18
Getsy, Jason Trumbull October 8, 1975 1995 August 18, 2009 33 14
Keene, Marvallous Montgomery July 5, 1973 1991 July 21, 2009 36 18
Fautenberry, John Hamilton July 3, 1963 1991 July 14, 2009 46 18
Wilson, Daniel Lorain September 10, 1969 1991 June 3, 2009 39 18
Bryant-Bey, Gregory Lucas August 6, 1965 1992 November 19, 2008 43 16
Cooey, Richard Summit June 9, 1967 1986 October 14, 2008 41 22
Newton, Christopher Richland November 13, 1969 2001 May 24, 2007 37 6
Filiaggi, James Lorain May 15, 1965 1994 February 24, 2007 41 13
Lundgren, Jeffrey Lake May 3, 1950 1989 October 24, 2006 56 17
Ferguson, Darrell Montgomery January 30, 1978 2001 August 8, 2006 28 5
Barton, Rocky Warren July 28, 1956 2003 July 12, 2006 49 3
Clark, Joseph Lucas January 15, 1949 1984 May 2, 2006 57 22
Benner, Glenn Summit September 24, 1962 1986 February 7, 2006 43 20
Hicks, John Hamilton July 3, 1956 1985 November 29, 2005 49 20
Williams, William Summit November 9, 1956 1991 October 25, 2005 48 14
Ashworth, Herman Licking February 26, 1973 1996 September 27, 2005 32 9
Smith, William Hamilton October 28, 1957 1987 March 8, 2005 47 18
Dennis, Adremy Summit January 23, 1976 1994 October 13, 2004 28 10
Mink, Scott Montgomery October 13, 1962 2000 July 20, 2004 41 4
Vrable, Stephen Mahoning October 15, 1956 1989 July 14, 2004 47 15
Zuern, William Hamilton December 5, 1958 1984 June 8, 2004 45 20
Wickline, William Franklin March 15, 1952 1982 March 30, 2004 52 22
Roe, John Glenn Franklin April 4, 1962 1984 February 3, 2004 41 20
Martin, Ernest Cuyahoga September 22, 1960 1983 June 18, 2003 42 20
Brewer, David Greene April 22, 1959 1985 April 29, 2003 44 18
Fox, Richard Wood February 3, 1956 1989 February 12, 2003 47 14
Buell, Robert Wayne/Summit September 10, 1940 1982 September 25, 2002 62 20
Coleman, Alton Hamilton November 6, 1955 1984 April 26, 2002 46 18
Byrd, John Hamilton December 18, 1963 1983 February 19, 2002 38 19
Williams, Lewis Cuyahoga December 26, 1958 1983 January 14, 2002 43 19
Scott, Jay Cuyahoga August 21, 1952 1983 June 14, 2001 48 18
Berry, Wilford Cuyahoga September 2, 1962 1989 February 19, 1999 36 10

U.S. executions

After a U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstated executions nationally, 1,277 inmates were put to death nationally from 1977-2011. Highlighted boxes indicate states that have recently studied the cost of executions. Click on those boxes for more information about what their studies found.

Reporting: Laura Bischoff, Jim Otte and Josh Sweigart | Interactive: Kyle Nagel | Published: Feb. 23, 2014 |