13 July 2012 :

Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday spared John Eley. Eley, 63, black, had been scheduled to die July 26 for the 1986 killing of Ihsan Aydah, owner of store. In a 5 to 3 split decision issued on June 20, 2012, the Ohio Parole Board rejected clemency for Mr. Eley. Kasich said he based his decision on Eley acting under the direction of another, and what he called Eley's limited mental capacity. "Without those factors it is doubtful that Eley would have committed this crime," said Kasich, who changed Eley's sentence to life in prison with no chance of parole. The governor also noted that the former Mahoning County prosecutor who tried Eley, Gary Van Brocklin, now regrets how the case was handled and its outcome, and has called for mercy. Van Brocklin said Tuesday that pushing for Eley to be spared was the right and fair thing to do considering the facts of the case. Former Mahoning County Judge Peter Economus — now a federal judge — said if defense attorneys had presented more reasons why Eley should have been spared, he wouldn't have voted in favor of a death sentence. Retired Youngstown police detective Joseph Fajack has also said he does not believe Eley should be executed, according to Eley's written request for clemency to the parole board. It's not unusual for judges or prosecutors to change their minds about individual cases or the death penalty itself, but the on-the-record testimony on behalf of a condemned inmate of the kind given by Van Brocklin is relatively rare. The decision was the third time since taking office last year that the Republican Kasich has spared an inmate on the eve of execution. In September, Kasich spared Joseph Murphy from execution for slashing a woman's throat in a 1987 robbery, citing the prisoner's horrific childhood and concerns about Murphy's mental health. On June 8, 2011 (see), Kasich spared Shawn Hawkins, saying he had no doubt the inmate was involved in a 1989 double killing but that the details of his participation were "frustratingly unclear." Ohio executed 47 people since the death penalty was reinstated, and has commuted the sentences of 17 people since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976.