US Judge's Opinion Sparks Debate Of Oklahoma Practice

A federal appeals court judge's rebuke in an Oklahoma death penalty case has sparked renewed debate over the constitutionality of a common practice in state courts -- allowing murder victims' relatives recommend to jurors whether the death penalty should be imposed against the perpetrator.

Veteran Oklahoma prosecutors defend the practice. They say jurors who must decide whether a defendant in a first-degree murder case is sentenced to death should have all of the evidence and testimony they can.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the death sentences of a man convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the stabbing deaths of a wealthy LeFlore County couple. But a dissenting opinion by Judge Carlos F. Lucero complains of repeated violations of defendants' constitutional rights in state death-penalty trials.