Killer's appeal sparks outrage

SANDUSKY — It's routine for death row inmates to seek delays in their sentences being carried out — for years and years — but recent news coverage about a local killer's motion stirred up some readers who offered no sympathy.Curtis Clinton, 47, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 15, 2021, for the 2012 murders of Heather Jackson, 23, her daughter, Celina, 3, and her infant son, Wayne. Clinton strangled all three family members days after he attacked and strangled another woman, and just months after being released from prison for killing yet another victim years earlier. Attorneys representing Clinton filed a motion in the Ohio Supreme Court to stay his execution until he's attempted every available state remedy, including all post-conviction appeals."Typically that initial execution date is stayed. This isn't unusual and it happens more often than not. It's a way of the court saying you have to get moving on your petitions and appeals," Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter said. "I think the public is starting to understand, a case like this takes many years."On social media and at the Register's website, readers expressed outrage about Clinton's effort to delay his date with an executioner."Please, the victims did not have the opportunity to appeal, so why should he? Instead of delaying it, lets speed it up," one reader commented at a Register article.Other's aired their grievances on Facebook:• Steve Notestine, of Norwalk: "This monster should be put to death today … Very slowly."• Barbara Palladino Farrar, of Wisconsin: "He still has several appeal avenues … he's not going anywhere. He really should have been taken in an alley and shot after sentencing."• Jennifer Walton Trimarche, of Sandusky: "He didn't delay killing 3 innocent lives! I say eye for an eye…"The TrialClinton's court trial joined the triple murder case with the rape and choking of a 17-year-old girl that shared similarities to the Jackson family's deaths.Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Tygh Tone sentenced Clinton to death after a jury found him guilty of three counts each of murder and rape in 2013.The Register provided a live video feed of the sentencing, during which Clinton said he'd be back and provoked Jackson's brother, Nick Fee. Both men had to be held back. Clinton has outlived Fee and Jackson's father who both died before an execution date was set. Jackson's family asked for a life-sentence over the death penalty for Clinton.AppealsThe Ohio Supreme Court set Clinton's execution date after it denied his appeal in February upholding his conviction and death sentence. Clinton was appointed a new attorney, Angela Miller, who helped him file an application to reopen his direct appeal.In July, Clinton also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for jurisdiction arguing his case is of a national importance because racism infected his trial and biased his conviction. Clinton is black; his victims were white. Thousands of cases get submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court each year but very few are chosen. Clinton's case was distributed to law clerks for a conference on Sept. 24.The clerks will go over the different cases submitted and make recommendations to the justices when they meet. On Oct. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will release a list of all the cases they declined to hear."I expect Curtis Clinton's case will be denied," Baxter said. "The petition is baseless. They're claiming the conviction was based on racial grounds … There was never any fact pattern addressed in the court to look at this. The Supreme Court wants a factual basis in the lower courts before they would take on a case."Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterCurtis Clinton restrained by law enforcement at his trial in 2013.