Supreme Court says Ohio gets chance to reinstate convicted killer’s death sentence

High court rules for Ohio in death penalty case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the state of Ohio should have another chance to sentence a convicted killer to death, despite a previous factual finding that the man is mentally retarded.

The court on Monday said a federal appeals court acted too quickly in throwing out the death sentence for Michael Bies, after the Supreme Court barred execution of mentally retarded people in 2002.

The ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati was based on an earlier review of Bies’ case by an Ohio court. While upholding his death sentence, the Ohio Supreme Court found that Bies was mentally retarded and had an IQ of 69.

That determination was made before the high court set new standards in the 2002 ruling. “Mental retardation was not a conclusive or necessary determination in any Ohio court proceeding to date,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Bies will now get a chance to argue that he should be spared execution because of mental retardation and prosecutors may try to rebut his claim and say Bies still is deserving of death for killing a 10-year-old boy who refused to perform a sex act.

The case is Bobby v. Bies, 08-598.