Trumbull County Prosecutor challenges federal involvement in Danny Lee Hill case

Danny Lee Hill

WARREN Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is challenging a federal public defender's involvement in the case of convicted murderer Danny Lee Hill.

Watkins penned a letter to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asking him to investigate whether "the self-insertion as 'counsel of record' by the Federal Public Defender's Office under the guise of federal court mandate constitutes an abuse of the principles of federalism."

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the Ohio Revised Code provides the AG's Office the authority to monitor federal actions for potential overreach and ensure adherence to the U.S. Constitution's principles of federalism.

In the letter, Watkins says he's filed a motion to stop "incessant efforts" to delay Hill's execution, noting that more than 30 appeals from Hill, both state and federal, have all been rejected.

"The 12-year-old victim Raymond Fife's mother Miriam, who is now in her 80s, still awaits the justice a Trumbull County Court deemed appropriate for the heinous acts committed by Hill, yet he still sits on death row," Watkins wrote.

This latest action involves a motion where the Federal Public Defender's Office asked for a new trial for Hill because a new witness has come forward stating that she did not see anything.

According to a press release, Watkins suggests that the qualifications of the Federal Public Defender's Office are "suspect at best because they are incompetent, lacking the requisite qualifications to act as counsel in a death penalty case under Ohio rules."

"If permitted to proceed unchecked and unchallenged, federal involvement is assured by these federally funded death penalty abolitionists. They must be stopped on legal grounds," Watkins wrote.

Hill was convicted of the 1985 murder of 12-year-old Boy Scout Raymond Fife. According to police, Fife was found naked and severely beaten in a wooded area. Police say Fife appeared to be severely burned and his underwear were tied around his neck and appeared to be lit on fire.