[JURIST] Convicted murderer Marvallous Keene on Tuesday became the 1000th person to be executed by lethal injection in the US since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1976 case of Gregg v. Georgia [opinion text]. In 1993, Keene was found guilty of five counts of murder based on his participation in a series of six killings committed over three days the previous December. The Ohio Adult Parole Authority unanimously recommended against clemency [clemency report, PDF] late last month and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland denied Keene clemency [WHIOTV report] last week. Keene refused to speak with the parole board and instructed his appointed public defenders not to present any arguments on his behalf.

Last month, Ohio first used its new lethal injection method [JURIST report], called "set-to-die." The procedure requires officials to shake and call out to the prisoner after a sedative has been administered, and a second dose can then be given, if necessary. A de facto national moratorium [JURIST report] on the death penalty ended last year when the US Supreme Court ruled in Baze v. Rees [JURIST report] that the three-drug lethal injection sequence [DPIC backgrounder] used in most states does not violate the Constitution.