WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the latest appeal by convicted killer Danny Lee Hill, according to the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office.
Hill appealed to the high court asking for a new hearing based on bite mark evidence in his case. He claimed that a new report from the American Board of Forensic Odontology suggests that using bitemarks to identify a specific individual might not be reliable.
Hill’s claim had already been considered in lower courts which said there was so much evidence against Hill that the bite marks would make no difference in his conviction.
Previously, the Sixth District panel in a majority opinion had stated: “We note that if we came out Hill’s way, most convictions involving forensic evidence would never be final.”
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins sought the assistance of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in answer to the claims in the U.S. Supreme Court and said he was “very appreciative” of the efforts of the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office in fighting the appeal.
Another appeal is pending in the Hill case in the Ohio Supreme Court surrounding Hill’s claim of an intellectual disability. Hill won his appeal in the 11th District Court saying that his intellectual ability should be evaluated using modern-day methods.
Watkins said previous rulings showed that Hill’s intellectual disability has been “examined and re-examined” by the court in several post-conviction motions for a new trial and has appealed the district court’s ruling. He is supported by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. The last filing in that case was April 3, 2024.
Hill’s attorneys have filed almost 30 appeals in the case since he was convicted in the death of Raymond Fife in 1986. Hill is scheduled for execution on July 22, 2026, however, Ohio has a moratorium on executions because the Ohio Department of Corrections cannot secure the drugs needed for lethal injection.
Hill and co-defendant, the late Timothy Combs, were charged in the 1985 kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife. Fife’s father found him in a field off Palmyra Road SW in Warren. Fife died days later.
