COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court is allowing offenders sentenced to death to appeal directly to the high court when an application for DNA testing is rejected.
The new rule adopted by the court Monday resulted from a decision last year in which the court declared part of a state law unconstitutional for limiting appeals by death row inmates seeking DNA tests.
The new rule takes effect June 1. It allows inmates to appeal directly to the high court if a trial judge rejects the application for DNA testing.
The court last year sided with death row inmate Tyrone Noling, who sought DNA testing on a cigarette butt found near the scene of the 1990 double murder that led to his sentence.
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