Killer appeals mental retardation ruling

WARREN -- Danny Lee Hill has appealed last month's Trumbull County Common Pleas Court ruling that the convicted child killer is not mentally retarded, as he contends.
The appeal goes to the 11th District Court of Appeals.
Hill, of Warren, was sentenced to death in 1986 at age 19. He was convicted of the 1985 torture and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife.
Meanwhile, Atty. Gregory W. Meyers of the Ohio Public Defender's Office has filed an affidavit with the common pleas court indicating that neither he nor any other lawyer with the public defender's office can represent Hill on the appeal.
Meyers, who has represented Hill in earlier proceedings, states that the Hill has repeatedly asked for new counsel and that Hill has repeatedly told him he has no confidence in any lawyer employed by the public defender's office.