CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County prosecutors are backing a bill that aims to extend the mental competency restoration period for aggravated murder and murder defendants from one year to five years.

It would automatically pause this period if a defendant refuses court-ordered medication.

The legislative push is directly prompted by the case of De’Lawnte Hardy, who is accused of killing a Cleveland police officer and his grandmother, and whose refusal of medication complicated his competency restoration within the current one-year limit.

Here are four takeaways from the original story posted Wednesday :

A push to extend the timeline to five years

Ohio Senate Bill 295 seeks to amend the current state law that gives authorities one year to restore a defendant’s mental competency for tr

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