PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — State prosecutors have asked the South Dakota Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence of a prison inmate who killed a prison guard.
Eric Robert pleaded guilty to killing prison guard Ronald Jonson during a failed escape attempt last April and asked to be executed. A judge sentenced him to death, and Robert has asked that the Supreme Court not delay his execution.
However, the Supreme Court has delayed the execution because state law requires the high court to review all death penalty cases to determine if the sentence is proper.
The state’s written brief, filed late Thursday, says state law clearly requires the Supreme Court to review the death sentence.
The state also says the death penalty is appropriate for Robert based on the evidence in the case.
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