(UTV|COLOMBO) – A US governor has spared a convicted killer sentenced to die after a juror said that his childhood abuse had not been properly detailed at trial.
Ohio Governor John Kasich commuted Raymond Tibbetts’ sentence to life in jail due to “fundamental flaws” in his sentencing.
Juror Ross Geiger found evidence of Tibbetts’ traumatic past that jurors never heard, he told parole officials.
Tibbetts, 61, was convicted of killing his wife and a 67-year-old man in 1997.
The governor overturned an Ohio Parole Board ruling and granted clemency to Tibbetts, who will now serve life in jail without parole.
Gov Kasich said in a statement on Friday: “The defence’s failure to present sufficient mitigating evidence, coupled with an inaccurate description of Tibbetts’ childhood by the prosecution, essentially prevented the jury from making an informed decision about whether Tibbetts deserved the death sentence.”
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