death penalty news June 14, 2004
OHIO: VIEWING CAPITAL PUNISMENT Assistant State Public Defender Steve Ferrell believes Ohioans should be allowed to see executions when they are carried out. Assistant State Public Defender Steve Ferrell believes Ohioans should be allowed to see executions when they are carried out, either in person or on TV. Ferrell claims more Ohioans would rethink their position on the death penalty if they could actually witness a human being killed. Ferrell watched the execution of Clevelander Lewis Williams earlier this year, and believes more Ohioans would oppose capital punishment if they knew what it involved. Ferrell thinks most Ohioans approve of the death penalty because they are removed from it. Williams struggled as he was being put to death, and it made headlines around the world. Ferrell says Williams received death penalty because his lawyer failed to show that he was severely abused by his parents as a child. Ferrell says he is opposed to capital punishment because it is mostly given to the poor, who can't afford good lawyers. (source: WKKJ)
