Clemency recommended for Ohio death row inmate Shawn Hawkins

The Ohio Parole Board today recommended that death row inmate Shawn Hawkins of Cincinnati be spared execution and spend the rest of his life in prison.

The clemency report by the parole board recommends that Ohio Gov. John Kasich commute the death sentence and order Hawkins, 42, to be in prison for life without parole.

Hawkins was convicted and sentenced to death out of Hamilton County for the June 1989 deaths of Terrance Richard and Diamond Marteen. Hawkins is scheduled for execution on June 14, 2011.

According to the report: "The Board is not confident in the death sentence in this case, but is also not convinced that Shawn Hawkins is innocent.''

Because of that uncertainty, the 7-member board recommended unanimously that Kasich commute the death sentence.

Anthony G. Covatta Jr., Hawkins' Cincinnati attorney, who has argued that Hawkins deserves a new trial, said the death penalty is a "fate that Shawn does not deserve."

Covatta said the parole board had evidence that the jury in the original case did not see or hear.

"We are confident that Governor Kasich will use his clemency power to affirm the Parole Board's unanimous recommendation,'' he said.

Covatta has filed a motion for a new trial. Arguments from defense lawyers and Hamilton County prosecutors are scheduled Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

The mother of victim Terrance Richard was outraged at the recommendation for clemency.

"My son's death was in vain," said Barbara Richard, 60, of North College Hill. "They make me feel like they're rewarding him (Shawn Hawkins) for killing my son because of the detectives of Mount Healthy weren't doing their job."

She said the governor has the last word, "so hopefully he will do what is right."

Richard's cousin, Shirley Miller, 70, of Forest Park, urged Kasich to reject the recommendation for clemency.

"The governor needs to send a message to all of the young folks out there with guns that when you kill somebody you're going to have to give up your own life," she said.

Source: cincinnati.com, May 12, 2011

Inmate asks to be spared death

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An inmate scheduled to die next month for killing two men in 1989 is asking the Ohio Parole Board for mercy, saying new evidence exonerates him of the crime.

A new forensic analysis casts doubt on the prosecution's argument that one of the victims was killed in a car by death row inmate Shawn Hawkins in Mount Healthy, according to a motion for a new trial filed by attorneys for Hawkins.

The motion also argues that three witnesses now provide alibis for Hawkins at the time of the slayings of 18-year-old Terrance Richard and 19-year-old Diamond Marteen, and that a partial fingerprint of Hawkins found in the car was handled improperly and is flawed evidence.

The motion also questions inconsistent testimony from the sole eyewitness to the slayings.

"It beggars the imagination of the undersigned as to how a conviction was ever obtained on such evidence," attorney Anthony Covatta said in the filing Monday.

On Wednesday, Covatta argued before the Ohio Parole Board that Hawkins' life should be spared.

Click here to read the full article.

Source: cincinnati.com, May 4, 2011

_________________________
Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Saudi Arabia executed 356 people in 2025, highest number on record

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom’s ‘war on drugs’ as authorities kill 356 people by death penalty Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year. Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh’s “war on drugs”, with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions. Official data released by the Saudi government said 243 people were executed in drug-related cases in 2025 alone, according to a tally kept by Agence France-Presse.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Singapore | Prolific lawyer M Ravi, known for drug death-penalty cases, found dead

Ravi Madasamy, a high-profile lawyer who represented death-row inmates and campaigned against capital punishment, was found dead in the early hours, prompting a police investigation into an unnatural death KUALA LUMPUR — Prolific Singapore lawyer Ravi Madasamy who tried to save Malaysian drug traffickers from the gallows found dead in the early hours with police investigating a case of unnatural death. Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, who had previously represented 56-year-old Ravi in court and described him as a friend, said he was deeply saddened by the news.

Iran | Executions in Shiraz, Borazjan, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Ardabil, Rasht, Ghaemshahr, Neishabur

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 23, 2025: Mahin Rashidi, Abbas Alami, Naser Faraji, Tohid Barzegar and Jamshid Amirfazli, five co-defendants on death row for drug-related offences, were secretly executed in a group hanging in Shiraz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men and a woman were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 17 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Mahin Rashidi, a 39-year-old woman, Abbas Alami, 43, Naser Faraji, 38, Tohid Barzegar, 51, and Jamshid Amirfazli, 45, all Kashan natives.

M Ravi, the man who defied Singapore regime's harassment, dies

M Ravi never gave up despite the odds stacked against him by the Singapore regime, which has always used its grip on the legal process to silence critics. M Ravi, one of Singapore's best-known personalities who was at the forefront of legal cases challenging the PAP regime over human rights violations, has died. He was 56. The news has come as a shock to friends and activists. Singapore's The Straits Times reported that police were investigating the "unnatural death".

USA | Justice Department Encourages New Capital Charges Against Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners

On Dec. 23, 2024, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. commuted the sentences of nearly all federal death row prisoners, sparing 37 men from execution. Just 28 days later, on Jan. 20, 2025, newly inaugurated President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order encouraging state and local prosecutors to pursue new charges against those same prisoners, reopening the possibility of capital punishment in state courts.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog