ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Nawaz Ahmed likely will represent himself from death row in an upcoming hearing.

After listening to arguments from Ahmed, his defense attorney Adele Shank, and Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan, Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Frank Fregiato ruled Ahmed’s defense attorney’s appointment has expired.

Ahmed would decide if he wants to proceed with the argument that he was mentally ill during his crime.

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.

Monday’s hearing was a contentious one, with Ahmed objecting to his attorney soon after he appeared via video from death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute.

Adele Shank, Ahmed’s defense attorney, had filed a motion on his 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.

Shank said new provisions had been made to allow for individuals who had a serious mental illness can have their death sentence set aside and receive an automatic life sentence.

“I am Mr. Ahmed’s defense attorney,” Shank said as she introduced herself at the beginning of proceedings.

“Not according to him,” Fregiato said.

Shank had been appointed to the case by Fregiato and said she had represented Ahmed for a number of years. Shank said the Seventh District Court of Appeals found Ahmed’s notice of appeal was invalid since it was not the final appealable order.

“There have been several additional notices of appeal, and the court of appeals had dismissed them all,” Shank said. “Really this is the initial status conference of the case.”

“The defendant did not seek out the assistance of counsel. The defendant does not want the assistance of counsel, in fact did not want to avail himself of whatever remedy this particular statute would allow,” Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan said, adding that the court should determine if Ahmed wants counsel or if the matter should be dismissed. Flanagan added Ahmed would have to give up his innocent plea should this statute be pursued.

During proceedings, Shank reiterated that Ahmed had been diagnosed with a delusional disorder at the time of the trial. She also objected that she believed Ahmed was not competent and could not waive counsel without being determined to be competent.

“His delusional disorder has been manifest throughout the many years that I’ve represented him,” she said.

Ahmed said at the beginning of September he had filed for a motion to stay and abeyance of the proceedings, and for indefinite continuances until the federal court has made a decision.

Flanagan said Ahmed’s filings demonstrate a grasp of the proceedings. Shank said the delusion impacts specific areas of Ahmed’s mental state and he is functional in others. She asked that the issue of Ahmed’s competency be ruled on at the Monday hearing.

“It’s is a one-time opportunity for those already on death row. He will never get a chance again to save his own life through the use of this statute,” Shank said.

“Mr. Flanagan, you find yourself in the unusual situation where you’re agreeing with the defendant himself,” Fregiato said.

“The defendant has the right to determine whether or not he wants to move forward with his appellate process relative to claims of innocence,” Flanagan said.

“Ma’am, aren’t you cutting off is rights?” Fregiato asked Shank.

She said she was not, on the grounds of lack of competency.

“The idea that this is a legitimate claim of innocence to be heard by another court is not supported procedurally,” Shank said. “There are a number of other courts that have said ‘we’ve reached a conclusion on these claims,’ and they have not granted him any relief.”

Ahmed said Shank was making false claims and false allegations and said she had not filed matters on his behalf as he instructed. He attempted to interject when Shank responded that she was required to act in the best interest of a client with diminished capacity.

Fregiato ruled Ahmed was not incompetent and could proceed on his own. Shank asked that a competency evaluation be considered. Flanagan said he did not believe the statute called for it, but would provide case information to Fregiato. Shank asked should this decision be reversed, the filing would date back to the initial filing date so Ahmed did not lose the opportunity to pursue this option.

A further status conference will be set.

“We have always maintained, and courts of appeal have upheld, all the decisions of the trial court. Any mental illness that he may have had did not contribute to him killing his wife, his sister-in-law, his father-in-law and his … niece. All of those issues were fully explored in the trial,” Flanagan said afterward.

“We do anticipate that Nawaz Ahmed will now withdraw this particular motion and he will continue to appeal his sentence as he has done previously, however he has failed at every stage and we anticipate that he will continue to fail,” Flanagan said.

“If we felt that he had some mental illness that caused him to commit these crimes, we would absolutely not take the position that we’ve taken,” Flanagan said. “Courts of appeal over the last decade have found him competent.

“In this particular case we had four innocent people that were bludgeoned and stabbed to death. The jury’s decision in both finding him guilty and the sentence were appropriate in this case,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan said there is no date set for Ahmed’s execution at this time.