Jurors deliberating life or death for Columbus officer's killer

A Franklin County jury has begun deliberating whether Lincoln S. Rutledge should receive a death sentence or life in prison for purposely killing a Columbus police officer.

If the jurors don't reach a decision by 9 p.m., they will be sequestered overnight at a Downtown hotel and resume deliberations Thursday morning, Common Pleas Judge Mark Serrott said.

Rutledge, 45, became eligible for the death penalty last week when the jury convicted him of aggravated murder in the April 10, 2016, shooting death of Officer Steven Smith and returned three additional findings: that Rutledge knew he was shooting at police officers, was attempting to kill two or more people and committed the crime to avoid detection or apprehension.

Defense attorneys Jefferson Liston and Mitch Williams called 21 witnesses over the past three days in support of mitigating factors that they contend make a death sentence inappropriate.

The jurors are required to weigh the mitigating factors against the aggravating circumstances of the crime to reach a sentencing recommendation.

If the jurors can't agree on death as the appropriate sentence, they must recommend a sentence of life in prison without parole or life with a chance of parole after 25 or 30 years.

The sentencing decision must be unanimous.

Rutledge barricaded himself inside his Clintonville apartment when officers attempted to serve him with a warrant accusing him of setting fire to his estranged wife's house, setting off an all-night standoff with SWAT officers. Smith was in the turret of an armored vehicle, providing cover for fellow officers trying to clear glass and blinds from a rear window where Rutledge was holed up, when a shot fired by Rutledge struck him in the head.

jfutty@dispatch.com

@johnfutty