A federal appeals court has denied a request by lawyers for an Arizona man facing execution this month to be allowed to make new arguments in an effort to overturn his death sentence in the 1984 kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old Tucson girl.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied the request made on behalf of Frank Atwood, convicted in the killing of Vicki Hoskinson.
Atwood’s legal team wanted to make three new arguments, but the appeals court agreed with lawyers for the state that that Atwood’s lawyers did not meet the criteria to present new evidence in federal court.