TRUMBULL COUNTY Inmate on death row seeks new defenders

The prosecutor called Hill's argument 'a farce.'
WARREN -- Death-row inmate Danny Lee Hill asked for new lawyers, saying public defenders aren't doing enough for him.
"Every time the public defender's office handles my case, something bad happens, every time," said Hill during a two-hour Trumbull County Common Pleas Court hearing on his lawyers' requests to leave the case.
Speaking from the defense table in an prison-orange jumpsuit, the convicted murderer said, "I just want private attorneys who will do better for my case."
Visiting Judge Thomas Patrick Curran granted a request by local attorney Maridee Costanzo to be removed from the case, but ordered Atty. Gregory W. Meyers of the Ohio Public Defender's Office to stay on the job.
"Gregory Meyers is highly qualified and certified for capital jurisprudence," Curran said. "Your current attorney [Meyers] has labored diligently in the vineyard to promote your case and I understand he will continue to do so."
One argument
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins argued that the judge should keep Meyers on the case.
"The petitioner is manufacturing a conflict with Attorney Meyers, in bad faith, to perpetuate the delay of these proceedings, a delay which will clearly benefit him by extending his life on death row," Watkins said in a brief to the court.
Hill was convicted in 1986 of the sexual assault and mutilation killing of Raymond Fife, 13, of Warren. To get the death sentence vacated, Hill must prove he is mentally retarded.
"He is taking this whole proceeding and making it a farce," Watkins said.
In a wandering argument, Hill accused one of his attorneys of misconduct, the prosecutor of mishandling evidence and the victim's mother of getting his cell block changed in prison.
Judge Curran is expected to rule on Hill's mental competence after a hearing, during which psychologists and other witnesses could be called to provide evidence. Hill has not yet been examined by psychologists appointed by the defense, the prosecution and the court.