Ohio Supreme Court announces 7 execution dates

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has announced execution dates for seven condemned killers, ending what had been a break in capital punishment scheduling by the state’s highest court.

One of those inmates, Brett Hartman, came within about a week of being executed in 2009 before a federal appeals court allowed him to pursue an innocence claim.

The Supreme Court action today means Ohio now has executions scheduled each month through October.

The dates were set with no comment, but the announcement came two weeks after Ohio switched to a new execution drug after supplies of the previous drug grew scarce.

The state had repeatedly said it had enough of the former drug to carry out next week’s execution of triple murderer Frank Spisak but would not comment about its supply after that.