Governor Is Last Hope for Ohio Death Row Prisoner

The Ohio Parole Board announced yesterday that it has voted 8-0 against recommending clemency for death row prisoner Kevin Keith, who is scheduled to be executed September 15 for a triple murder he says he didn’t commit.

The parole board’s

recommendation

is non-binding — Gov. Ted Strickland has the final decision on whether Keith will be executed. Strickland has said he finds the facts of Keith’s case “troubling.”

The Innocence Network has joined with several key experts and officials along with other legal groups and thousands of Americans in calling on Gov. Strickland to commute Keith’s execution based on strong evidence of Keith’s innocence. Keith was convicted based in large part on questionable eyewitness identifications — the leading factor of wrongful convictions overturned through DNA testing.

In

a letter to Strickland

and the parole board earlier this month, Innocence Network President Keith Findley wrote: “We believe the newly discovered evidence, which was withheld by the state at the time of (Keith’s) trial, provides compelling evidence of his innocence.”

Join Keith’s supporters in urging Strickland to grant clemency based on the substantial doubts about his guilt.

For a roundup of press coverage of the parole board decision, visit

Stand Down Texas

.