Warren Boy Scout murder: Ohio Supreme Court hears death row appeal.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court heard the appeal of a death row inmate convicted of the 1985 murder of a 12-year-old boy in Trumbull County Wednesday morning.

Justices heard arguments for and against the appeal of Danny Lee Hill, who was convicted of the 1985 murder of Raymond Fife in Warrne. Hill is asking not to be executed, claiming he is intellectually disabled. 

At the time of his trial, Hill was described as "intellectually disabled," but there were no laws forbidding states from executing the intellectually disabled until 2002.

Following the change in the law, Hill filed for postconviction relief, arguing that his intellectual disability prevented the state from executing him. However, this request was denied and the death penalty was upheld.

More than a decade later, in 2018, a state-hired expert reevaluated Hill under updated guidelines and determined that Hill was indeed intellectually disabled.

From there, Hill once again asked for postconviction relief, but that request was once again denied, with the court saying that Ohio law provides a specific, exclusive process for postconviction appeals and a civil rule could not be used to bypass those requirements.

The court considered this request to be an unauthorized second post-conviction petition and dismissed the case without reviewing the new evidence of intellectual disability.

Hill appealed this ruling, with the Appeals Court ruling in Hill's favor and ordering the trial court to review his case further. The Ohio Attorney General's Office appealed this ruling and took it to the Ohio Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.

Arguing on behalf of Hill, attorney Calland Ferraro argued that the statutes brought up by the state only apply to the sentence or conviction in a criminal case, and granting Hill's request would only vacate the prior post-conviction judgment, not the underlying criminal judgment.

"It is only after the Rule 60(b) motion is granted that the lower court would have to hold a hearing or readjudicate his claim, and only then would his sentence be vacated," Ferrano said.

The matter was taken under advisement.