A Nevada appellate court has declined petitions by two of the state's longest-serving death row inmates.
The Nevada Appeal reported Tuesday that the Nevada Supreme Court unanimously rejected appeals by 58-year-old John Bejarano and 66-year-old Robert Ybarra Jr.
Officials say they disagreed with Bejarano and Ybarra, who cited a Florida case concluding trial courts must instruct jurors that the state has to prove aggravating circumstances in a death case not outweighed by mitigating circumstances.
Bejarano has been on death row since 1988 after being convicted of murder, deadly weapon enhancement, possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen vehicle. Ybarra Jr. has been on death row since 1981 after being convicted of rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl.
