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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt says he's appealing a federal judge's order granting a new trial for a Nevada death row inmate convicted of killing an FBI agent in Las Vegas.
Laxalt says 54-year-old Jose Echavarria does not deserve a new trial and his office has filed a notice to appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
U.S. District Judge Miranda Du, in a ruling filed Jan. 16, found Echavarria received an unfair trial based on allegations of bias against Clark County District Judge Jack Lehman, who has since retired.
Echavarria was convicted of murder in the 1990 shooting death of FBI agent John Bailey inside a Las Vegas bank.
Laxalt says the court order directs Echavarria to either be retried or released, and that order has been stayed pending the outcome of the appeal. Echavarria remains at the Ely State Prison.
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