RENO, Nev. (AP) — Lawyers for a murderer who has been on Nevada's death row for 34 years are asking a jury in Reno to spare his life and order him to spend the rest of his years in prison after a federal appeals court overturned his original death sentence.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld 67-year-old Tracy Petrocelli's conviction two years ago in the 1982 killing of a Reno car salesman, months after Petrocelli killed his girlfriend in Seattle.
But it ordered a new sentencing hearing after finding his rights were violated during the penalty phase of his original trial.
Public defender Jaclyn Millsap told the jury Petrocelli they won't ask for a chance at parole. But she says Petrocelli is an older, frailer man now who has behaved himself in prison and doesn't deserve to be executed.
The hearing that resumed Friday is expected to last three weeks.