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Judge Tosses Death Sentence of Man on Death Row Since 1988
By: Associated Press
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CLEVELAND (AP) – A judge in Ohio has ruled that a man who’s been on death row for more than 30 years is intellectually disabled and has thrown out his death sentence.
Andre Jackson was convicted of aggravated murder in 1988 for fatally beating a 74-year-old employee at a laundromat in Euclid. Cleveland.com reports a Cuyahoga County judge has found Jackson is intellectually disabled now and likely was when Emily Zak was killed in 1987.
The ruling says executing Jackson would violate the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The Office of the Ohio Public Defender, representing Jackson, says the court reached a “just result.”
The county prosecutor’s office has vowed to appeal.
Authorities said the now 53-year-old Jackson beat Zak to death and stole a cash register.