Monday 9 April 2007

Kevin Yarbrough resentenced to life

Kevin Yarbrough resentenced to life

(Soon-to-be former) Ohio death row inmate Kevin Yarbrough was resentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after thirty years on Friday in Shelby County Common Pleas Court. Friday's ruling was a result of the US Supreme Court's 2002 Atkins ruling declaring unconstitutional the execution of mentally retarded inmates, and a subsequent competency proceeding in Shelby County Common Pleas Court in Oct., '06, leading to Friday's ruling (here (13-page pdf)), which determined that Yarbrough met the three-prong burden of proof for establishing retardation in Ohio set forth by the Ohio Supreme Court in the Lott case. (Yarbrough's federal appeals going to the validity of his conviction have not yet commenced.) Yarbrough was transported back to death row after Friday's proceeding, but is expected to be moved to another facility once he is reclassified by the Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation and Corrections, a process which can take two or three weeks. It's not known which facility he will be transferred to.

  • There has apparently been no media coverage of the Yarbrough resentencing or earlier mental retardation evaluation.

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