Ohio court allows condemned killer’s DNA request
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A divided Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with a death row inmate seeking DNA testing on a cigarette butt found near the scene of the 1990 double murder that led to his sentence.
At issue in Tyrone Noling’s case is whether a constitutional appeals process is available to death row prisoners who are denied DNA testing after a trial is over.
The court ruled 4-3 that part of a law denying that appeals process is unconstitutional. As a result, Noling and other death row inmates denied DNA testing can appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Noling was convicted of killing Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, both 81, at their Portage County home. He maintains his innocence. Wednesday’s court ruling involved Noling’s appeal of a judge’s 2013 rejection of his latest attempt to have DNA testing done.