COLUMBUS — Ohio prison officials sent Jay D. Scott back to his death row cell Wednesday while judges pondered whether he should live or die.

        Convicted of killing Cleveland delicatessen owner Vinnie M. Prince during a robbery in 1983, Mr. Scott was supposed to die by lethal injection Tuesday night. The Ohio Supreme Court stopped the execution minutes before it was to take place to resolve questions about his sanity.

Scott

        As Mr. Scott settled into a Mansfield Prison cell that guards had already cleaned out for a new inmate, the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals reportedly was hard at work.

        Judges Anne Kilbane, Timothy McMonagle and Patricia Blackmon have until 5 p.m. Friday to decide whether Mr. Scott gets another chance to try to overturn his execution because he is schizophrenic.

        Mr. Scott could face execution again in as little as three weeks, or it could be pushed back for months, depending on what the appeals court, and the high court, decide.

        Adding pressure is the fact that Ohio courts have not dealt with a death penalty case at its final stage since 1963.

        “We don't think there is any evidence whatsoever that suggests Jay D. Scott is incompetent to be executed,” said Charles Frey, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor who urged the three judges not to block the execution.

        “I feel very confident in the arguments we've made,” he said.

        While no one doubts Mr. Scott is schizophrenic, the courts must determine if he is competent. State law says a mentally ill person can be executed if he understands he is going to die for a crime he committed.

        Mr. Scott's lawyers want the courts to agree the Ohio and U.S. Constitutions bar executions of mentally ill inmates as cruel and unusual punishment.

        Both arguments are unprecedented in an Ohio capital case since the General Assembly reinstated the death penalty in 1981.

        Mr. Scott is the first inmate to try to avoid execution after losing all of his guaranteed appeals. With another 200 death row inmates at various stages of the legal process, he won't be the last.

        With this case, Mr. Frey and Mr. Scott agree the courts are entering uncharted legal territory, and that leaves everyone guessing what happens next.

        “These are not easy decisions for the courts to make because of the gravity of the situation,” Mr. Frey said.

        “Jay D. Scott has raised important serious issues,” Mr. Sweeney said. “It's a good thing to see that the courts are willing to take them up.”

        The Ohio Supreme Court is expected to pick up the appellate court's decision Tuesday.

        In the meantime, prison officials say they will keep Mr. Scott under observation on Mansfield's death row.

        “He was on a roller coaster there for a while,” said prison spokesman Joe Andrews, referring to Tuesday night.

        Prison Warden Margaret Bagley reported Mr. Scott was in good spirits when he came back at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. Mr. Andrews said he reportedly smiled and told Ms. Bagley, “I'm glad to see you.”

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