OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A state appeals court has
upheld the death sentence of a man accused of gunning down a state
highway patrolman in 2003.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday
affirmed the death sentence of 38-year-old Ricky Ray Malone. Malone was
convicted of shooting trooper Nikky "Nik" Green twice in the back of the
head after wresting Green's gun from him during a struggle on a Cotton
County road. Green was trying to arrest Malone for allegedly operating a
mobile methamphetamine lab out of the car he was driving, and some of
the attack was captured on Green's vehicle's dashboard camera.
Malone's attorney had urged the court to instead
give Malone a life term, arguing that a judge didn't account for
mitigating circumstances when re-sentencing Malone to death.
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