Death penalty case in SD goes before St. Paul court
A South Dakota man on death row for the 1990 rape and murder of a 9-year-old Sioux Falls girl will have his appeal heard by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Attorneys for 58-year-old Donald Moeller will appear in St. Paul Thursday to argue his case.
They say Moeller's rights were violated during his trial. Specifically, they say he had ineffective counsel and a mistake was made when jurors weren't told that life in prison meant no chance for parole.
Moeller was convicted in 1992 of killing Becky O'Connell and sentenced to death. The South Dakota Supreme Court overturned that conviction. During a second trial in 1997, he was again convicted and sentenced to death.
Moeller is challenging South Dakota's death penalty law in a separate appeal.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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