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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for a Mississippi death row inmate are asking the state Supreme Court to order a hearing on his mental health as a possible step toward overturning his conviction.
The attorney general's office opposes it, saying a trial court already properly handled the capital murder case against Erik Wayne Hollie, who pleaded guilty in the 2009 killing of a pawn shop owner.
After listening to more than an hour of arguments Tuesday, justices gave no indication of how or when they might rule.
Hollie's public defender, Alison Steiner, told justices that shortly after Hollie was sent to prison, he was found to be suffering from "a bipolar-type situation." She said the condition could not have developed quickly, and indicated Hollie had been mentally incompetent at the time of trial.
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