COLUMBUS - A ninth Ohio death row inmate has appealed his sentence based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month banning the execution of the mentally retarded.

        Lawyers for William Garner, 29, of Hamilton County, argued in a court filing Tuesday that their client meets the definition of a mentally retarded person.

        They presented a January 2001 report by a doctor who examined Mr. Garner in 1998 and concluded he was mentally retarded.

        Mr. Garner “has a long and substantiated history of severe adaptive problems including academic failure, severe behavior problems, social skills deficits, criminal activity commencing at an early age, and mental health problems,” the filing by the Ohio Public Defender's Office said.

        Mr. Garner was sentenced to death in 1992 for setting three fires following a robbery that killed five children.

        Joe Case, a spokesman for Attorney General Betty Montgomery, said both sides will have to present their arguments about Mr. Garner “and let the courts make the final decision.”

        At least nine death row inmates are using the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on the execution of the mentally retarded to appeal their sentence.

        They include:

        Allen Holloway, 48, of Hamilton County, sentenced to death in 1984 for strangling an 84-year-old woman after she refused to give him money.

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