Ohio Bloodbath

The projected slaughter continues.

To the surprise of nobody who's been paying attention, the Ohio Supreme Court today scheduled the TENTH execution of 2010:

Michael Benge, from Butler County. October 6.

Lest you haven't been paying attention, or if you want it all in one place, here's the whole of the lineup:

• Abdullah Sharif Kaziim Mahdi - January 7 - Executed
• Mark Brown - February 4 - Executed
• Lawrence Reynolds - March 9
• Darryl Durr - April 20
• Michael Beuke - May 13
• Richard Nields - June 10
• William Garner - July 13
• Roderick Davie - August 10
• Kevin Keith - September 15
• Michael Benge - October 6

It's worth the reminder. The only capital offense in Ohio is aggravated murder. It's defined in Ohio Revised Code Section 2903.01. Subsection A covers state execution.

No person shall purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the death of another or the unlawful termination of another’s pregnancy.

To make it a death eligible offense, there must also be a death specification. The specifications are listed in Section 2929.04(A). The fifth specification applies.

Prior to the offense at bar, the offender was convicted of an offense an essential element of which was the purposeful killing of or attempt to kill another, or the offense at bar was part of a course of conduct involving the purposeful killing of or attempt to kill two or more persons by the offender.

There's really not much more to say.