Number of death row inmates declines in Ohio

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- The number of prisoners on Ohio's death row is decreasing as new death sentences are outnumbered by inmates who are executed or die from other causes or are freed through clemency or appeals.

The Dayton Daily News ( http://bit.ly/UQb01C ) reports that Ohio courts handed down just three new death sentences in 2012. But there were three death row inmates executed, another died in prison and one had his death sentence vacated. Two inmates received clemency and life sentences from Gov. John Kasich and one was released on appeal because of prosecutorial misconduct in his case. That leaves the number now on death row at 142, down from 204 in January 2003.

Ohio's three new sentences in 2012 were down from the record 24 in 1985.

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com