Story Published:
Dec 16, 2009 at 1:15 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Dec 16, 2009 at 1:15 PM CDT
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- A federal appeals court reinstated the death sentence for a man convicted of beating and strangling a teenager from Boone County, Ark., in 1996.
In January 2008, a federal judge threw out the death sentence for Jason McGehee, 33. He's convicted of capital murder and kidnapping for the death of John Melbourne Jr., 15. In throwing out the sentence, U.S. District Judge James Moody found jurors should have heard testimony about McGehee's violent childhood while deliberating his sentence.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision on Wednesday. It says the testimony likely wouldn't have changed the jury's decision. The panel cited the brutality of Melbourne's death and that there was no evidence that McGehee was physically abused or neglected as a child.
