A judge has rejected an argument from lawyers for a Vermont man facing a second federal death penalty trial that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling should be used to declare his potential punishment unconstitutional.
Donald Fell's attorneys argued that carrying out the federal death penalty law requires the assistance of state officials in violation of the high court's May ruling, which overturned a law instructing state legislatures to adopt laws prohibiting sports betting.
In a decision filed Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford said the sports betting argument did not apply because rules for carrying out federal executions comply with federal law.
The 38-year-old Fell is due to go on trial for the 2000 kidnapping and killing of Rutland supermarket worker Terry King.
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