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Ohio board recommends clemency in capital case based on co-defendant disparity

By Douglas A. Berman

In the federal sentencing system, defendants often point to lesser sentences given to co-defendants in order to argue for lower sentences themselves.  As detailed in this local state capital sentencing story, the concept of co-defendant disparity this week prompted the Ohio parole board to make a recommendation of clemency for a defendant slated to be executed in August. Here are the basics: The triggerman in a 1995 murder-for-hire scheme should be spared execution because other members of the plot were just as guilty, the Ohio Parole Board said Friday in a rare ruling in favor of mercy.  The board ruled 5-2 in favor of clemency for Jason Getsy, 33, scheduled to be executed Aug. 18 for the murder of 68-year-old Ann Serafino, of Hubbard. Getsy was also convicted of the attempted murder of Serafino's son, Charles, who was the target of the scheme...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 17, 2009 (boomark / email).