COLUMBUS — Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday denied clemency to Jay D. Scott, a murderer who faces execution April 17 unless a court intervenes.

        The Ohio Parole Board last week urged the governor to deny clemency to Mr. Scott, 48, who was convicted of killing delicatessen owner Vinnie Prince, 74, of Cleveland, during a 1983 robbery.

        Mr. Scott's court-appointed attorneys, Timothy F. Sweeney and John Pyle in Cleveland, on Tuesday asked for a hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court — where Mr. Scott was convicted and sentenced — to determine his competence to face execution.

Scott

        Mr. Pyle also asked the trial court to block the execution.

        “We also raise in the motion the argument that it's a constitutional violation to execute anyone who is as mentally ill as Jay D. is,” Mr. Pyle said.

        Mr. Scott's lawyers plan to ask the Ohio Supreme Court today to consider a delay of his execution, Mr. Pyle said. Mr. Scott has exhausted all other appeals.

        Prosecutors will argue that Mr. Scott is mentally competent to be executed, said Christopher Frey, chief of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William Mason's appeals unit. The office plans to file a response within a few days, Mr. Frey said. He said he thinks Mr. Taft's denial was reasonable, based on the evidence.

        Attorney General Betty Montgomery will oppose any request for a delay in Mr. Scott's execution, spokesman Joe Case said.

        The Supreme Court suspended some filing rules in the Scott case Tuesday to expedite developments. The suspension means lawyers can fax motions to court rather than have them delivered by hand. The court also ordered all parties to send it copies of any filings.

        Mr. Scott's lawyers contend the original defense team chose not to present evidence of a troubled childhood and a history of mental illness to the jury that recommended his sentence. If they had, prosecutors could have presented criminal convictions in Mr. Scott's past, Mr. Sweeney said.

        Mr. Taft rejected arguments that jurors would have decided against the death penalty if they had been presented evidence of a harsh childhood.

        At least three courts have ruled that the decision by Mr. Scott's original attorneys to withhold that evidence was a valid defense strategy, Mr. Taft said.

        That evidence also could have been outweighed by evidence of Mr. Scott's prior criminal record, which included several other convictions, the governor said.

        And, Mr. Taft said, Mr. Scott broke major prison rules at least 43 times during 17 years in prison and engaged in other crimes including abducting a guard and stabbing another inmate.

        “It is impossible to read about Mr. Scott's troubled childhood without feeling compassion towards him and his sisters and brothers,” Mr. Taft said. “Nevertheless, I find the aggravating circumstances of the crime and Mr. Scott's subsequent conduct outweigh any mitigating factors.
       

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