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The Seventh District Court of Appeals is reviewing the case of death row inmate Nawaz Ahmed, who was convicted of murdering four people in St. Clairsville.
According to the court office, the conference Wednesday was between judges assigned to the case and was not a hearing. The nature of the conference was not released and there is no timeline for any decision.
In 2001, Ahmed was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of his estranged wife and her family. The bodies of Dr. Lubaina Bhatti, 39, her father Abdul Majid Bhatti, 78, her sister Ruhie Ahmed, 35, and her niece, Nasira Ahmed, 2, were found in Ahmed's St. Clairsville home, and Ahmed was stopped before he could board on a flight for Pakistan.
Ahmed last appeared in Belmont County Common Pleas Court September of last year. He appeared via video from death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute. Last year's hearing included conflict between Ahmed and his attorney, Adele Shank. Shank had filed a motion on Ahmed's behalf, saying he was seriously mentally ill during the killings and not eligible for the death penalty under 2953.21 of the Ohio Revised Code. He would receive an automatic life sentence.
Shank, who said she had represented Ahmed for several years, said he had been diagnosed with a delusional disorder during the trial.
Ahmed had objected to the depiction of himself as mentally ill and there was discussion that he might represent himself in the future.
According to court records, in January there was a motion to appoint counsel for Ahmed for appeal of the dismissal of serious mental illness claim. Records also indicate the prosecution has motioned to dismiss the appeal for lack of standing, and Shank has opposed this.
Shank had said the Seventh District Court of Appeals found Ahmed's notice of appeal was invalid since it was not the final appealable order.