13 February 2017 :

Gov. John Kasich delayed 8 executions as a court fight continues over the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection process. Kasich's announcement postponed one execution scheduled for next week until May, and moved 7 other procedures months into the future. The Republican governor said the timing of arguments before a Cincinnati federal appeals court necessitated the delay. The court is hearing Ohio's appeal of a federal judge's order finding the state's latest execution process unconstitutional. Kasich said he's confident Ohio will win the appeal but that the court calendar didn't provide enough time to prepare for executions scheduled this month, next month and April. "These delays are necessary to allow the judicial process to come to a full resolution, and ensure that the state can move forward with the executions after the appeal is settled," Kasich said. Ronald Phillips, scheduled to die Feb. 15 for raping and killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in 1993, is now set for execution May 10. At issue is a federal judge's ruling on 26 January 2017 (see) rejecting the state's latest proposed 3-drug execution method, which hasn't been used in Ohio. As part of that decision, Magistrate Judge Michael Merz said Ohio didn't prove that the st drug in its current 3-drug process, the sedative midazolam, doesn't present a substantial risk of harm.