TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas prosecutor says he’s planning to retry a capital murder suspect rather than ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the man’s convictions for killing two women in Topeka.
The Kansas Supreme Court overturned Phillip Cheatham Jr.’s convictions in January, finding that his lawyer did a poor job at his 2005 trial.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor announced Tuesday his conclusion that it would be “ill-advised” to appeal the state court’s ruling.
Cheatham was sentenced to die for the 2003 shooting deaths of two women at a Topeka duplex. He was also convicted of lesser charges for wounding a third woman.
