Ohio death penalty reversal

The Ohio Supreme Court last Wednesday reversed the death sentence of convicted killer Troy Tenace, saying, in effect, that a combination of a chaotic childhood with abusive parents and other factors outweighed the brutality of the offense.

“In his appeal,” the Court’s syllabus read, “Tenace had raised 17 propositions of law. We have reviewed each and determined that none justify a reversal of Tenance’s conviction for aggravated murder.”

But, the Court continued, “Pursuant to ORC §2929.05(A), we have also independently weighed the aggravating circumstances against the mitigating evidence and compared Tenace’s sentence to those imposed in similar cases. (Here) we find that the aggravating circumstance does not outweigh the mitigations beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore reverse Tenace’s sentence of death.”

Opinion
ORC § 2929.05