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Ohio Supreme Court Once Again Upholds Woman's Death Sentence

ODRC

The state Supreme Court has for the third time upheld the death sentence for Ohio's only condemned female killer.

The court ruled 6-1 Tuesday in the case of Donna Roberts, sentenced to death for a third time in 2014.

In the past, the court said a prosecutor improperly helped prepare a sentencing motion in Roberts' case and that a judge hadn't fully considered factors that could argue against a death sentence.

Justice Terrence O'Donnell, writing for the majority, rejected arguments that allowing a new judge to sentence Roberts after the original judge died was unconstitutional.

The 73-year-old Roberts was accused of planning her ex-husband's murder with a boyfriend in hopes of collecting insurance money.

The boyfriend, Nathaniel Jackson, also was sentenced to death in the 2001 slaying.