After years of back and forth legal battles, it appeared that convicted killer Danny Lee Hill would soon have an execution date set following the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to not hear Hill's case.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins was preparing to file a motion to set a date for Hill to be put to death, but now the date may be delayed again.

That's because the Federal Public Defender's Office, on behalf of Danny Lee Hill, has filed a "Civ.R. 60(B) Motion for Reconsideration" of the determination that Hill was not intellectually disabled and subject to execution for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Raymond Fife back in 1985.

A statement from Prosecutor Watkins said it is the office's firm belief that the filing is "totally meritless, legally inappropriate, and undertaken solely to delay Hill's case going forward to conclusion with Hill's execution."

Watkins says Hill is not entitled to any hearing or ruling in common pleas court on the merits of a second post-conviction petition on the same claim of intellectual disability unless he can prove that he is actually innocent of Fife's killing.

The statement says litigation shows the issues have been considered ad nauseam for the last 37 years.

Furthermore, Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General Stephen Maher has been appointed as a special prosecutor in the case.

Maher is set to oversee all post-conviction proceedings and appeals.

He has worked on the Hill case for more than 20 years.