2 justices won't step down in death-penalty case

COLUMBUS (AP) — Two Ohio Supreme Court justices say they won’t step down from a death-penalty case despite an attorney’s allegation of potential bias.

The lawyer for condemned killer Ashford Thompson says the justices cast their votes in the midst of campaigns that focused on their support for law enforcement.

At issue is the court’s 4-3 ruling last month in an appeal by death row inmate Thompson, who fatally shot a Twinsburg police officer in 2008.

Justices Judi French and Sharon Kennedy both said today without comment they won’t step down.

Defense attorney Rachel Troutman wants a new hearing for Thompson, arguing campaign commercials for both justices demonstrated a tough-on-crime strategy that would be undermined by granting relief to a man who had killed a police officer.