The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

Related Photos

March 16, 2007

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland denies clemency to Biros

By Matt Snyder

BROOKFIELD — Kenneth Biros’ execution date is set for Tuesday. While a stay of execution — or a new battery of litigation from his defense — could delay that date, Gov. Ted Strickland will not.

“The governor has denied clemency to Kenneth Biros,” Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said Friday.

Biros murdered, robbed and dismembered Tami Engstrom, 22, of Hubbard in 1991 after offering to take her out for coffee from a Brookfield bar.

Strickland had granted a reprieve to Biros when he took office in January so that he could review the case, since Biros’ execution date had been set for Jan. 23.

Debbie Heiss, Ms. Engstrom’s sister, said the family is preparing for Tuesday’s execution. She said the family understood Strickland’s need to review the case, and commended him on his decision.

John Parker, Biros’ defense attorney, said he was disappointed by the governor’s decision. “We were hoping our governor would file a suit and not risk having an unconstitutional execution.”

He said some states had stopped their executions pending the result of a challenge to lethal injection’s constitutionality. North Carolina, Maryland, California and Missouri have put them on hold, Parker said.

Biros’ execution is still stayed as a result of a challenge to the lethal injection execution method in Ohio. A spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s office, Leo Jennings, said there is a motion to vacate that stay, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit may hear before Tuesday.

Parker said the defense on Friday also filed for another stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court. Parker said the stay was meant to give the court time to hear a case that was filed on March 6.

The case Parker wants heard, he said, argues that one of the prior appeals Biros was denied had relied on another court case in its decision. That other case, he said, has since been declared unconstitutional.

Watkins said Biros’ defense was re-litigating issues that had already been addressed. “It’s just absolutely wrong that at the last minute we’re getting these frivolous lawsuits to obstruct justice. I mean, how many times do you have to review something?”

Parker denied anything frivolous about their case, and said, “We’re just trying to pursue all legal remedies that are available.”

Parker said he had spoken to Biros on Friday. “He’s holding up,” Parker said. “He’s hopeful the Sixth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court will give him an opportunity to litigate these important issues.”

Text Only
Local News
  • Recycling program a bit too popular

    The  county’s effort at going green by encouraging recycling in rural areas has been a tremendous success by most accounts, but isn’t without a few glitches. In Wilmington Township, residents often only have a window of a few minutes to get cardboard recyclables in before the bin is full, prompting a discussion among Mercer County Commissioners Wednesday morning.

    May 25, 2012

  • District will tap reserve fund

    Reynolds school directors plan to fill a $374,567 hole in the 2012-2013 budget with money from the district’s fund balance.

    May 25, 2012

  • School board mulls change to sports chaperone policy

    In order to comply with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Sharpsville Area School Board is looking to adjust a chaperone policy it implemented six months ago.

    May 25, 2012

  • Afternoon crash hurts 3 high school students

    Three Jamestown High School students were injured – one seriously – when their pickup left a roadway in southwest Crawford County and crashed into a tree Tuesday afternoon.

    May 24, 2012

  • Board sells some, holds some

    Brookfield Board of Education members voted Tuesday to accept only the bids for the elementary school and the middle school, for a total of $97,050.
    The decision came after an hour-long executive session.

    May 24, 2012

  • Levey: Kohl’s project died with school vote

    Stripped of the necessity of voting for a tax incremental finance plan by Hermitage School Board’s unwillingness to participate, Mercer County commissioners said Wednesday they would like to meet with school board and Hermitage city officials to discuss other ways they can help Levey and Co. build a retail development in the city.

    But Levey spokeswoman Jeffrey A. Mills said there is nothing to discuss.

    May 24, 2012

  • Warden expects hectic season at county jail

    With the unofficial start of summer just a few days away, Mercer County Jail officials are preparing for a busy season.

    May 23, 2012

  • Levey officially drops TIF request

    Levey & Co. has officially ended its request for a tax incremental financing plan to build a retail development anchored by a Kohl’s department store.

    May 23, 2012

  • Grant will pay to fix 12-15 homes



    The City of Farrell will be able to fix up about a dozen homes in the city thanks to a $300,000 HOME grant from the state.

    May 23, 2012

  • Hard budget choices yet to come


     
    Hermitage School Board has been fortunate in many ways during the economic downturn that has been so hard on many other schools.

    May 23, 2012