Supreme Court delays killer's execution

SANDUSKY — Ohio's highest court decided Thursday to delay the execution of a man convicted of killing a young Sandusky mother and her children.The Ohio Supreme Court granted the motion of Curtis Clinton, 47, to stay his execution, which was scheduled for Sept. 15, 2021. The court ruled the stay would "remain in effect until exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings, including any appeals." In 2012, Clinton murdered Heather Jackson, 23; her daughter, Celina, 3; and her infant son, Wayne, a week after he choked and raped a 17-year-old girl, and just months after he was released from prison for a manslaughter charge related to another woman's death years earlier.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.The Ohio Supreme Court confirmed his conviction last February and set the initial execution date, but Clinton and his attorney filed a motion to stay the execution. Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter told the Register it was common for the initial execution dates to be stayed."The Ohio Supreme court granted the delay in his execution to allow more time for proceedings," Baxter said.Clinton argued he has pending post-conviction proceedings in Erie County's court and a stay was needed to ensure all possible issues were resolved.He filed a post-conviction relief petition in 2014 which claimed other suspects for the murder weren't considered, but the petition was stayed pending his direct appeal in the Ohio Supreme Court."It just hasn't proceeded yet, but at some point hopefully we can get a ruling on it," Baxter said. "It's a lot of the same issues he brought up at trial and I don't expect it will change his conviction." AppealsClinton listed 23 different errors when he appealed his sentence and conviction to the Ohio Supreme Court.But his arguments focused on the joining of the murder cases and the rape of the 17-year-old in the trial, and the inclusion of his 1997 manslaughter conviction into evidence.The court, however, reaffirmed both his conviction and death sentence since the justices reasoned there were similarities in the cases which made it relevant and a jury was capable of distinguishing them.In May, he filed a motion to reopen his driver appeal with newly appointed attorney Angela Miller. He has also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for Jurisdiction, but Baxter believes it's unlikely they will take his case.Clinton is incarcerated in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterCurtis Clinton at his 2013 trial.