TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge drops out of Hill case

The state Supreme Court will be asked to appointa visiting judge.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A judge in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court has removed himself from the case of a convicted killer who wants his death sentence to be vacated.
Judge Andrew Logan stepped down from Danny Lee Hill's case Thursday, moments after defense attorneys filed a motion asking him to do so.
Attys. Gregory W. Meyers, Roger Bauer and Maridee Costanzo argued in their motion that Judge Logan and all judges in the local common pleas system should not hear the case because the victim's mother works in the courts as a victim-witness advocate for the county.
What motion says
"Not long after her son's murder, Miriam Fife joined Trumbull County's criminal justice system when she became the victim-witness assistant," the motion states. "In that role she has had near weekly contact with every judge on the Trumbull County bench.
"As a result, no judge from the county can preside over Danny Hill's case without creating at least the appearance of impartiality."
Bauer said Judge Logan will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a visiting judge to preside over Hill's effort to have his death sentence lifted.
"I respect the opinion of the court and we'll go on with a new judge," Watkins said.
Hill was convicted in 1986 of the sexual assault and mutilation killing 13-year-old Raymond Fife. To get the death sentence vacated, Hill must prove he is mentally retarded.
IQ test results
Watkins and LuWayne Annos, an assistant prosecutor, have stated in court motions that Hill was given an IQ test in 2000 and was found not to be retarded.
The prosecutors have said the U.S. Supreme Court didn't set an IQ level, but most states generally consider someone with an IQ of 70 or lower to be retarded.
Hill's score in 2000 put his IQ at 71.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati delayed Hill's appeal process in August pending a ruling from a state court on his mental capacity.
The appeals court ruling followed a June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that it's unconstitutional to execute people who have mental retardation.
Psychological exams from the 1980s show Hill's IQ ranged from 55 to 68.