Ohio opposes child killer attending hearing

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio is opposing a condemned child killer’s request to attend a court hearing over the state’s plan to use a never-tried lethal drug combination.

Lawyers for death-row inmate Ronald Phillips say he needs to be at Friday’s hearing in federal court in Columbus to present his own testimony.

Attorneys for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction question that need.

They also say Judge Gregory Frost should consider the expense and security involved in transporting a death-row inmate.

Phillips is suing over the state’s adoption of a combination method of a sedative and painkiller for his Nov. 14 execution.