Killer of Beech Grove police officer cites fetal alcohol syndrome to avoid execution
BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — The man sentenced to death for the murder of a Beech Grove police officer believes the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome should block his execution.
Attorneys for Benjamin Ritchie made that argument in a filing with the Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Ritchie is on death row for his conviction in the killing of Beech Grove Officer William Toney.
A jury convicted Ritchie for the September 29, 2000, shooting death of Toney during a foot chase.
Investigators said Ritchie jumped a fence, then waited for Toney to climb over it before shooting him multiple times.
In Tuesday’s filing, Ritchie’s attorneys claim he suffers brain damage as a result of fetal alcohol syndrome (now referenced as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder), and should be spared the death penalty as a result.
“Ritchie’s guilt was not disputed. The only issue at trial was whether Richie should be sentenced to death,” his attorneys wrote. “Evidence that behaviors associated with Ritchie’s brain damage were consistent with Ritchie’s version of the crime is reasonably likely to have persuaded the jury that Ritchie need not die.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita has asked the state’s highest court to set an execution date for Ritchie, saying the inmate has exhausted all possible appeals.
The justices have not yet voted on setting an execution date.
The court has set December 18th as the execution date for Joseph Corcoran, a Fort Wayne man convicted of killing four people in 1997.
It would be the state’s first execution since 2009.
