Prosecutor to fight for death penalty
By CHRISTOPHER BOBBY Tribune ChronicleWARREN - Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is scheduled to be in Columbus today, set to argue against any clemency for local death row inmate Kenneth Biros, scheduled to be executed Dec. 8.
A recommendation either for or against clemency from the Ohio Parole Board that goes to Gov. Ted Strickland is expected within a day or two.
The Ohio attorney general last week filed a motion with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to lift a stay on Biros' execution. A federal judge issued the stay earlier until the state of Ohio develops a new protocol on its lethal injection procedure.
In October, Watkins attended a proceeding that allowed him to view Biros' latest claims in preparation for today's clemency hearing.
Biros was convicted in the 1991 slaying and dismemberment of Tami Engstrom, 22, of Brookfield, after he offered to drive her home from a bar Feb. 7, 1991.
It's the second time that Watkins has argued against sparing Biros' life.
Biros, 51, came close to being executed in 2007, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution should be stayed to allow Biros to present initial lethal injection arguments to a panel of federal judges. Since it has been two years, the state requires another clemency hearing to consider any new evidence.
Engstrom's family had traveled to Lucasville to witness Biros' scheduled execution at that point in 2007, only to learn that Biros was getting more time to argue against the penalty.
The stay that Attorney General Richard Cordray wants to eliminate came after the Sept. 15 botched execution of death row inmate Romell Broom, which also was delayed by a federal judge until a back-up or alternative method of lethal injection could be designed.
Strickland postponed until the spring the executions of two other men who were scheduled to die in the months before Biros.
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KarmaChameleon
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11-11-09 8:37 PM
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I notice that no one is commenting on the sheer idiocracy of the girl that got in the car with a weirdo after a night of drinking. Where is the accountability on her part?
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angeldust
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11-09-09 10:35 PM
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DANNY LEE HILL WILL DEFINITELY BE NEXT...TIME FOR MIRIAM FIFE, THE ANGEL THAT SHE IS, HAVE HER CLOSURE.
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angeldust
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11-09-09 10:28 PM
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DENNIS WATKINS ROCKS!!!!
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AFRET1
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11-09-09 4:49 PM
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Mr Watkins, thank you for fighting for what is right and appropriate. Now, what about Hill? It's been forever (20+ years).
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Leatherneck
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11-09-09 11:56 AM
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Just one good bullet.... Why can't the penal system just hire one good nurse or phlebotomist to do the lethal hookup? It'd be professional and pain free - then they just dump the chemicals in. We euthanize dogs and cats "painlessly" don't we? How can executing a human with an injection be that much different?
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DeputyDog
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11-09-09 11:01 AM
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And once again, the cry of the people can be heard. "Where's the ROPE?"
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wonderboy
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11-09-09 10:33 AM
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Who are the victims anymore? It seems that these killers are granted everything and the people let behind get a kick right in there behind, and cry there selfs to sleep every night. SOMETHING STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.
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anniemae
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11-09-09 9:47 AM
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Dennis, find a way. If not injection, something else. The victims are gone & these killers are still getting publicity!!!! How 'bout an old-fashioned firing squad!!!! Of course, there's no suffering there like victims endured.
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BobCvengros
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11-09-09 9:30 AM
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Mr. Watkins; I support your efforts, but you are going to have your work cut out for you due to Lethal Injection.
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passintime
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11-09-09 9:06 AM
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he's always been a good prosecutor..
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brebal
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11-09-09 8:49 AM
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I agree, look at Danny Hill, he should of been put to death along time ago, but lets just*****up more of the tax payers money.
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OldManGrump2
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11-09-09 6:29 AM
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As the bible says, "An eye for an eye", even God wants murderers put to death so they can enjoy the fires of H E L L for eternity quickly.
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Linda44444
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11-09-09 6:14 AM
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Good Luck Mr. Watkins. I hope you can make it happen. All murderers should be put to death. You take a life , you lose yours. Why should they sit it prison while the tax payers take care of them. It is so wrong.
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