Official: Ohio executions still coming too quickly

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court recently ordered more time between executions, but the schedule is still too tight for the Ohio Public Defender’s Office.

At least one person will be put to death each month through the end of this year. State Public Defender Tim Young says that’s an unacceptably fast pace, and he worries that mistakes could happen. Young says each case requires a great deal of work.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray says the rather full slate of lethal injections comes as the state works its way through a backlog following U.S. Supreme Court cases that held up executions nationwide. But the state’s top prosecutor indicates his office finds the schedule manageable.

Ohio’s high court agreed in June to space executions at least three weeks apart.