Judge rules no new trial for Danny Lee Hill

WARREN

Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove has denied a request by attorneys for death row inmate Danny Lee Hill to grant Hill a new trial based on bite-mark evidence used at his 1986 trial.

"This court cannot consider bite mark evidence in a ... vacuum," Judge Cosgrove said in the conclusion of the 31-page decision, issued today.

She said she "has serious concerns about the scientific reliability of bite mark evidence," but there is little evidence that a new trial would have a different outcome than the first one.

"...there is is more than enough sufficient evidence to support Hill's conviction on aggravated murder and three death penalty specifications."

Attorneys Sarah R. Kostick and Vicky Ruth Adams Werneke sought a new trial in 2014, questioning the testimony about bite marks found on the privates of Hill’s victim, Raymond Fife, 12. An expert witness said the bite marks were made by Hill.

Hill’s attorneys say the scientific community has determined since Hill’s trial that bite marks cannot be reliably used to identify the person causing them.

Prosecutors have said the bite marks were not crucial to proving that Hill was one of the two killers. Raymond Combs, 17, also was convicted of the murder and was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility in 2049.

Judge Cosgrove is a visiting judge hearing the case on assignment from the Ohio Supreme Court.

Hill and Combs were convicted of raping, torturing and burning Raymond in a wooded area along Palmyra Road on Sept. 10, 1985, as Raymond rode his bicycle to a Boy Scout meeting. Raymond died two days later from his injuries.