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ELKO, Nev. (AP) -- Elko County's district attorney hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty for the West Wendover High School senior accused of killing a 16-year-old classmate and burying her body in the desert.
Kody Patten, 18, was arraigned Wednesday on an open murder charge in last week's killing of Micaela Costanzo. A criminal complaint says he confessed to striking her with a shovel in the remote area about 5 miles west of the Nevada-Utah line.
District Attorney Mark Torvinen says his decision about the death penalty will be based on the evidence and not all of it is in yet.
Patten's preliminary hearing has not yet been set partly because he says he can't afford his own lawyer and Elko County doesn't have a public defender certified to argue capital cases.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
