WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it would hear arguments in an Ohio case on whether prosecutors may present conflicting evidence at parallel trials.
John David Stumpf was indicted for shooting a man and wife in Guernsey County, Ohio, while he and co-defendant Clyde Wesley robbed their home in 1984. Stumpf shot the husband between the eyes, but the man survived. The husband was unconscious when his wife was shot and killed.
Stumpf pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. He was sentenced to death.
Several months later, Wesley's cellmate said Wesley admitted that he, not Stumpf, had shot the wife while the husband was unconscious. The cellmate testified at Wesley's trial.
A federal appeals court later ruled that Stumpf should have been allowed to withdraw his plea, either because he didn't understand the elements of the crime he was pleading to, or because the state presented conflicting evidence.
