State v. Noling

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After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of two counts of murder. The trial court sentenced Appellant to death. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant later filed an amended application for postconviction DNA testing pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 2953.71 through 2953.84. The county common pleas court denied the application. Appellant appealed, arguing that section 2953.73(E)(1) violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments because it discriminates between capital and non-capital criminal defendants, fails to provide appellate review, and results in the arbitrary and capricious application of the death penalty. The Supreme Court held (1) section 2953.73(E)(1) violates the constitutional right to equal protection, but the unconstitutional portion of the statute can be excised to create a constitutionally sound procedure that provides capital offenders an appeal of right to the Supreme Court; and (2) this constitutional analysis applies equally to section 2953.72(A)(8), which summarizes the procedure for appealing a denial of postconviction DNA testing. Therefore, the Court applied the severance remedy to the unconstitutional portions of the statutes. Consequently, Appellant will be permitted an appeal of right to the Supreme Court from the denial of his amended application for postconviction DNA testing. View "State v. Noling" on Justia Law