Ohio passed a law in 2021 that exempted people with serious mental illnesses from being executed.

Nine people have been removed from death row, with 25 cases still pending.

Some death row inmates have sought to drop their mental-illness appeals, raising competency questions.

Ashford Thompson suffers from a serious mental illness.

Doctors hired by defense attorneys and prosecutors reached that consensus in the case of Thompson, who is sitting on death row for killing a Twinsburg officer in 2008. Under a new state law , this diagnosis would make him eligible to have his death sentence commuted to life in prison.

Thompson, though, wants to drop his appeal.

Now Thompson’s attorneys are asking: Is he competent to make this decision? They say Thompson has displayed concerning behavior, i

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