John R. Hicks - Trial and Appeals

Trial and Appeals

He was convicted of the aggravated murder of Maxine Armstrong while committing robbery, for which he received a life sentence to be served concurrently with a 10 to 25 year sentence for aggravated robbery. In the murder of his five-year-old stepdaughter, Hicks was convicted of aggravated murder to escape detention and purposeful killing of more than two people. For this he received a death sentence.

He was sentenced to death on March 3, 1986 for the aggravated murder of Brandy Green.

Hicks's lawyers have argued that under Ohio law, voluntary intoxication may be considered a mitigating factor in capital cases. They say that the jury was not instructed of this fact. In their report, the parole board wrote that although he was intoxicated, the "merciless death" of his stepdaughter was premeditated.

The jury were also told that the final decision of whether to impose a death sentence rested with the trial judge. They say that this may have led some jurors to vote for the death penalty, even though they had doubts about its appropriateness for the case. The Court of Appeals of Ohio overturned the later grounds for appeal. They stated in their opinion that they did not endorse "the perpetuation of a practice that has fallen into disfavor in this state."

Dr. Theodore Parran of the Case Western School of Medicine diagnosed Hicks with a psychotic decomposition and recommended that he be placed into a psychiatric facility for observation. Parran said that although Hicks' actions appeared deliberate, he did not know what he was doing.

The nine-member Ohio Parole Board recommended unanimously on November 15, 2005 that Governor Bob Taft deny clemency for Hicks. At the hearing, his brother plead for Hicks' life to be spared, while his sister-in-law argued that Hicks should be executed for his crimes.