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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — A judge is upholding a ruling that would allow southern Utah prosecutors to seek the death penalty if a man charged with one half of a 2010 double murder is convicted.
The Spectrum of St. George reports that Judge G. Michael Westfall said Thursday that he agreed with a prior magistrate's decision about the 33-year-old Brandon Perry Smith.
Smith is charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old Jerrica Christensen.
Christensen was killed in a December 2010 altercation at a St. George townhome that also left 27-year-old Brandie Sue Dawn Jerden dead.
Another man, 34-year-old Paul Ashton, pleaded guilty in July to killing Jerden in his home. He's been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Smith is awaiting trial.
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