Group calls for end of executions in Ohio

COLUMBUS — Ricky Jackson spent nearly four decades in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

He and his brother and another man were sentenced to death in the 1975 case, based on the testimony of a 12-year-old witness who decades later recanted.

Today, all three were at the Statehouse, along with several other men exonerated of crimes that put them on Ohio’s death row, to urge lawmakers to prevent others from being wrongly convicted.

The former inmates spoke during a morning press conference organized by Ohioans to Stop Executions, which is pushing for enactment of recommendations offered by a Supreme Court task force that backers say would help to prevent future wrongful convictions. The group also wants Ohio to end executions.