CINCINNATI — Rodney Hinton Jr., the man accused of intentionally hitting and killing Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Henderson, was back in court Wednesday for a hearing to assess his mental state at the time of the incident.
During the hearing, court-appointed forensic psychologist Jennifer O'Donnell presented her findings on Hinton's mental state to Judge Jody Leubbers.
O'Donnell said she believes Hinton suffers from bipolar disorder.
Under Ohio law, if someone is found to have a "serious mental illness" that significantly impacts their judgment in relation to their conduct, then that person cannot be sentenced to death. Bipolar disorder is one of the conditions considered to be a "serious mental illness" under the law.
"In my opinion, his illness impacted his judgment," O'Donnell said.
WATCH: Forensic psychologist explains why she feels Hinton’s mental illness affected his judgment
A day before Henderson was killed, Hinton's son, Ryan, was shot and killed by Cincinnati police. The following day, after watching body camera footage of the shooting, Hinton allegedly ran down Deputy Henderson with his car.
"He was overwhelmed with emotion, and he was extremely depressed," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell said she believes Hinton was suffering from symptoms of his mental illness as well as significant emotional distress.
"I believe Mr. Hinton experiences bipolar disorder and that he was experiencing symptoms consistent with that during the period of this offense," O'Donnell said.
Hinton's attorneys are seeking to change his plea of not guilty to a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, according to court documents.
O'Donnell said that, as part of coming to her conclusion, she spoke to Hinton and his family about his mental state leading up to when Henderson was killed.
"The day before, the night before, he had learned that his son had been killed, he came home, he went to the basement, he was obviously very distraught in the basement," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell said in court Wednesday that she believes Hinton's bipolar disorder impacted his ability to exercise rational judgment.
No decision was made by Judge Leubbers on Wednesday. Two other experts, one appointed by the defense and one appointed by the prosecution, are scheduled to testify on Hinton's mental state before a decision is made.
Those experts are expected to testify during a hearing on Jan. 5.
