Court denies killer's motion to reconsider appeal

SANDUSKY — Ohio's highest court denied a death row inmate's motion to reconsider his appeal after he was convicted of killing a Sandusky mother and her children.In February, Curtis Clinton, 47, motioned for the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider it's earlier decision to reaffirm his conviction and death sentence for the murder of Heather Jackson and her two young children.He argued the court shouldn't have decided the joining of two separate cases — the Jackson murders and the rape of a 17-year-old girl — and the inclusion of his past manslaughter conviction into evidence was acceptable.But the prosecution contended Clinton's motion didn't provide new rationale to consider and merely repeated the same arguments the court already rejected in his original appeal.On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in the prosecution's favor and denied his motion to reconsider. Clinton is incarcerated in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution as he awaits his execution on Sept. 15, 2021.The original caseClinton strangled Heather Jackson, 23, her daughter, Celina, 3, and her infant son, Wayne, to death inside their home in 2012. Sandusky police arrested him after surveillance footage showed he was the only one to go into the house, according to court documents.Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Tygh Tone originally sentenced Clinton to death in 2013 after a jury found him guilty of three counts each of murder and rape.Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegister