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Scotus Denies 2 Mississippi Death Row Inmates

By Associated Press

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear appeals from two inmates on Mississippi's death row. Scotus Denies 2 Mississippi Death Row Inmates

Published: Tue, October 02, 2007 - 12:43 pm Last Updated: Tue, October 02, 2007 - 1:26 pm

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from Mississippi death row inmate Eddie Lee Howard Jr.
Howard wanted a new trial because he says his attorney failed to put on testimony to debunk bite-mark evidence.
Howard was appealing a ruling from a Mississippi court in 2006 that said while the attorney's action was wrong, the error wasn't bad enough to throw out Howard's conviction and order a new trial.

On Monday, the Supreme Court without comment denied Howard's request to hear his appeal.
Howard raised questions about his attorney's performance in a post-conviction motion.
Inmates use post-conviction motions to claim they've found new evidence to justify a new trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court aslo declined to hear an appeal from Mississippi death row inmate Xavier Brown, who
had attacked his attorney's work.
A Mississippi court ruled in 2006 that it was Brown who tied the hands of his attorney.

The Mississippi court refused to allow Brown to pursue a
post-conviction appeal in Lamar County Circuit Court.
Brown was sentenced to death in 2002 in a murder-for-hire case.
He was convicted in the shooting death of Felicia Newell of Hattiesburg. The Mississippi court upheld the conviction and sentence in 2004.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)