USA - Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence of Frank Spisak

The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated for a 2nd time the death sentence of Frank Spisak. The justices ruled unanimously that the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly set aside the death sentence of Spisak. The Court of Appeals in Cincinnati found Spisak's trial lawyer was ineffective and that his jury received faulty sentencing instructions (see Jan. 11, 2008). Spisak, 58, white, was convicted of 3 murders at Cleveland State University over a seven-month period in 1982 - crimes he said were motivated by his hatred of gays, blacks and Jews. At the same time, Spisak claimed his crimes were sparked by mental illness related to confusion about his sexual identity. He wants to have surgery to become a woman. The 6th Circuit once before had thrown out Spisak's sentence in 2006 only to be reversed by the Supreme Court in 2007.