Condemned Inmate Seeks New Trial

By: The Associated Press

Posted: Mon 11:20 AM, Mar 04, 2013

A death row inmate is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to allow him to file a post-conviction petition seeking a new trial for his role in the 2004 slaying of a Hattiesburg couple.

The appeal by Roger Lee Gillett is among dozens the Supreme Court will consider during its March-April term. A decision is expected later this year. The Supreme Court has not scheduled the case for oral arguments.

The Supreme Court upheld Gillett's capital murder conviction and death sentence in 2010.

In a post-conviction petition, an inmate argues he has found new evidence, or a possible constitutional issue, that could persuade a court to order a new trial.

Gillett was one of two people charged in the 2004 deaths of Linda Heintzelman and Heintzelman's boyfriend, Vernon Hullett.

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