KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo, TX: newschannel10.comCourt upholds death sentence in 1986 murders
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Associated Press - November 4, 2009 11:25 AM ET
HOUSTON (AP) - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the death sentence of a Houston man convicted of killing a woman and her 2-year-old son although 3 of the nine judges believe he deserves a new trial.
Michael Wayne Norris was convicted and condemned for the November 1986 shooting deaths of 38-year-old Georgia Rollins and her son, Keith. At the time, Norris, now 51, already was out of prison after serving seven years of an 8-year term for another murder.
Judge Paul Womack, joined Wednesday by two other judges on the state's highest criminal court, says he believes the law making multiple killings eligible for a death sentence was misapplied in this case because Norris didn't intend to kill the child.
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