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The Indiana Supreme Court has ordered the state to submit motions in response to death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie’s counsel, who requested a stay and oral arguments last week.
The state’s response is due today at 4:30 p.m.
Ritchie is currently scheduled to be executed on May 20, an hour before sunrise.
He has been on Indiana’s death row since 2002 after being convicted for the fatal September 2000 shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer William Toney.
Deputy State Public Defender Mark Koselke believes precedent and procedure call for granting a rehearing in Ritchie’s case.
“Ben is severely brain damaged and when he was sentenced to death in 2001, everyone was unaware of the nature and scope of that damage. His jury was explicitly told by the trial prosecutor that he did not suffer from FASD, because he lacked the facial features. We know that Ben has both the facial features and diagnosis of Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, an FASD,” Koselke said.
Ritchie has argued that his post-conviction counsel failed to investigate whether his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present evidence at trial that he suffered from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
The high court was divided in its decision earlier this month in denying Ritchie’s motion for post-conviction relief.
“We hold hope that this Court that is currently split, 2-2, with the Chief Justice believing Ben deserves the chance to at least have this matter further looked into, will not move forward with his execution on May 20, 2025,” Koselke said.
Among the court’s five justices, Geoffrey Slaughter and Derek Molter concurred in the decision to deny Ritchie’s motion and set the execution date. Justice Mark Massa did not participate in the decision.
Justice Christopher Goff agreed with the setting of the execution date but disagreed with denying Ritchie’s motion. He wrote that he would have temporarily stayed the execution date to consider Ritchie’s claim.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and former Gov. Eric Holcomb last fall requested the high court set an execution date for Ritchie.
The state began executions again last year after obtaining the lethal injection drug pentobarital.
Joseph Corcoran was the first person to be executed under Indiana’s capital punishment law in December after a 15-year hiatus.
Indiana is one of 21 states that have the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
There are currently seven men on Indiana’s death row, including Ritchie. If Ritchie is executed on May 20, it will be the state’s second execution in six months.
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