04 October 2019 :

Governor Grants Reprieve to Cleveland Jackson Who Was Abandoned by Attorneys. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has granted a reprieve to Cleveland Jackson, now 41, Black, delaying his execution date from November 13, 2019 to January 13, 2021, because of a misconduct complaint filed against his previous appellate attorneys. The ethics complaint alleges that John Gibbons and James Jenkins, who were appointed in 2007 to represent Jackson during his habeas corpus appeal, missed critical filing deadlines, did not meet with their client for years, and even failed to inform him when an execution date was set. Without consulting with Jackson, they also rejected offers of help from the Capital Habeas Unit for the Northern District of Ohio. The Board of Professional Conduct, the disciplinary branch of the Ohio Supreme Court, filed the complaint on September 27, 2019. Governor DeWine issued the reprieve three days later. The reprieved marked the sixth time Jackson’s execution date has been postponed. A news release issued by the Governor’s office on September 30 reads: “It is prudent to issue a reprieve in this matter until the disciplinary process is resolved.” The statement also said the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections was experiencing “ongoing issues” relating to its ability “to acquire drugs pursuant to their protocol.” Jackson’s current lawyer, assistant federal defender Dale Baich, called the reprieve issued by Governor DeWine “entirely appropriate due to the failure of Mr. Jackson’s former habeas counsel which resulted in a problematic legal process in his case.” Baich said numerous issues “were not explored due to Mr. Jackson’s poor legal representation, and evidence of Mr. Jackson’s intellectual disability was not developed and presented at the appropriate time.” Baich said that prior counsel’s failures have “cost Mr. Jackson his right to raise this constitutional challenge, which would have made him ineligible for a death sentence. Now,” Baich said, “the courts may no longer have the ability to review these and other meritorious claims.” Jackson was sentenced to death for shooting both 3-year-old Jayla Grant and 17-year-old Leneshia Williams in the head in a January 3, 2002 robbery. 6 other victims were wounded. Jackson’s half brother, Jeronique Cunningham, also was sentenced to death.