Delay Lightens Capital Appeals Caseload of Ohio Federal Judge
The chief federal district court judge in southern Ohio has lightened the caseload of a colleague who had five unresolved death penalty appeals sitting on his docket for between three and eight years.
Judge Walter Rice agreed that the cases should be moved to another judge’s docket, reports the Enquirer. Two had been unresolved for eight years, the Cincinnati newspaper notes. Rice, who has been on the federal bench since 1980, sits in Dayton, Ohio.
“Judge Rice has a very heavy docket, and it seemed logical to give him some relief,” explains Judge Sandra Beckwith, the chief judge in the district. “These are enormous cases. They take a lot of time.”
Death penalty opponents praise Rice for the careful review he accords capital cases. However, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, whose office oversaw three of the five cases, characterizes his docket as “a black hole in the universe,” as far as capital appeals are concerned.
“Just the fact that they appear to be out of his courtroom is a victory for victims in these cases,” Deters says.
