Death row inmates granted direct DNA testing through Ohio Supreme Court under new rule

New rule allows inmates to appeal lower courts decision

The move follows the Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision in December that struck down as unconstitutional part of a state law restricting such appeals in cases involving those already convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

Under the new rule, if a Lucas County Common Pleas judge denies an application for DNA testing of evidence after a death sentence has already been imposed, an appeal of that decision would skip the Sixth District Court of Appeals and be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court.

Tyrone Noling was convicted of killing Bearnhardt and Cora Hartiga of Portage County in 1990 and the Supreme Court has already upheld both the conviction and sentence. He has insisted he is innocent of the murders and has filed numerous appeals over the years.

He requested DNA testing of a cigarette butt that was found in the Hartigs’ driveway...