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WARREN -- The full U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear the Danny Lee Hill death penalty case, overturning a decision in May by a three-judge panel of the court that ruled executing Hill would be unconstitutional under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
In late May, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the Sixth Circuit judges for a full court "en banc" hearing on the matter. His request was granted Wednesday, according to court documents.
Hill was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife in 1985.
The federal Sixth Circuit in May again ruled that Ohio can't execute Hill, who has maintained that he is intellectually disabled. That opinion recounted the multiple records demonstrating Hill's mental struggles, including with even basic daily responsibilities. The Sixth Circuit also ruled in February 2018 that Hill shouldn't be executed.
After the state appealed that ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the Sixth Circuit should reconsider the case because it had relied extensively on a case decided long after Hill was sentenced to death.
The attorney general's office claimed in its late May filing that the three-judge panel erred and that the full court should re-hear the matter. The term en banc means a case is heard before all the judges rather than by one judge or a panel of judges selected from them. En banc review often is used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to grant Hill a new trial.
"We are pleased with this decision. This en banc hearing is a rare occurrence, especially for this case," Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said. "We have another shot, but now this is extra innings. Hill's responsibility and culpability for his heinous crime is never ending. Hopefully, the final decision will get it right."
Arguments before the entire Sixth District court are set Dec. 2 in Cincinnati.
Watkins said he wanted to thank Solicitor Ben Flowers and the Ohio Attorney General's office for "their attention, dedication and exemplary work in the Hill case or else we wouldn't be where we are."
Watkins said Flowers personally phoned Miriam Fife on Wednesday to give her the news about the court's decision.
"Our journey for justice for Raymond is doing all you can do and uphold the proper decisions and local state judges. Miriam Fife and her family and the citizens of Trumbull County deserve no less," Watkins said.
Miriam Fife, mother of Raymond Fife, said she was pleased with the decision but also "pleased they did it so quickly. I'm glad they are making decisions more aggressively so we can get this over with."
Hill's co-defendant, Timothy Combs, died in prison at age 50 in 2018 while serving a life sentence. Combs was 17 when he and Hill, who was 18 at the time, stopped Raymond on Sept. 10, 1985, in a wooded area near Palmyra Road SW, as the boy rode his bike to a Boy Scouts meeting. Raymond died two days later after he was beaten, sexually tortured, strangled with his underwear, set afire and left for dead. He was barely alive when he was found several hours later by his father and brother-in-law.
Because he was a few months shy of his 18th birthday, Combs was not eligible for the death penalty, as Hill was.
An attorney for Hill from the Federal Public Defender's Office in Cleveland, Lori Beth Riga, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Another lawyer listed on court documents, Vicki Ruth Adams Werenke, could not be reached for comment.