A federal court panel has turned down a condemned man's appeal.
Judges of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted two-to-one to reject Jason Getsy's appeal based on a challenge to Ohio's lethal injection procedure. The Cincinnati panel ruled that the appeal was filed too late.
Getsy faces execution Tuesday for the 1995 death of 66-year-old Ann Serafino at her home in Hubbard. She was killed in a murder-for-hire plot aimed at her son, Charles, who was wounded. Prosecutors say Getsy hit Ann Serafino on the head with a revolver then stood over her and shot her twice.
Gov. Ted Strickland still must decide whether to accept the state parole board's recommendation to spare Getsy's life. The board was concerned that the man who orchestrated the crime got 35 years to life in prison, not the death penalty.
A business rival of Charles Serafino had offered Getsy and two others $5,000 to kill him.
