COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Friday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued reprieves to three men scheduled to be executed this year.
- Gregory Lott, who was scheduled to be executed on March 12, 2020. The new date of execution has been moved to May 27, 2021.
- John Stumpf, who was scheduled to be executed on April 16, 2020. The new date of execution has been moved to September 15, 2021.
- Warren "Keith" Henness, who was scheduled to be executed on May 14, 2020. The new date of execution has been moved to January 12, 2022.
The state is continuing to have problems finding supplies of lethal injection drugs. Executions have been on hold for months since DeWine ordered the prisons agency to find new drugs after a federal judge raised concerns about the constitutionality of Ohio's current lethal injection system.
A significant obstacle is the possibility that drugmakers might cut the state off from supplies of drugs used for medicinal purposes if they learn their drugs are also being used for executions, DeWine said last summer.
Multiple drug manufacturers and distributors in recent years have prohibited the use of their products for lethal injection, severely limiting supplies around the country.
But numerous agencies rely on the state's ability to procure those drugs for medicinal purposes, including the departments of Health and Developmental Disabilities, the state schools for the blind and the deaf, and local community alcohol and drug addiction organizations, the governor said.
Prosecutors say they trust DeWine will resolve the issue so executions can resume.
Capital punishment is "an important criminal deterrent, and an expression of society's moral outrage at the most heinous crimes in the state," said Louis Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
GOP House Speaker Larry Householder has said it may be time to reconsider capital punishment.