The Providence Journal reports, "State of RI seeks U.S. Supreme Court review in Pleau death-penalty case." It's by Katie Mulvaney.
The state of Rhode Island Tuesday took the custody battle over accused killer Jason Wayne Pleau to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The state filed for a high court review of an appeals court ruling that Governor Chafee had to surrender Pleau to federal custody to face charges that he fatally shot gas station manager David Main outside a Woonsocket bank.
The state is contesting the appeals ruling, arguing that Chafee had the right to refuse federal prosecutors' request for custody of Pleau under an agreement that governs the transfer of prisoners between states and the federal government.
Chafee had refused to relinquish Pleau, who was being held in state prison, citing Rhode Island's long-standing rejection of the death penalty.
Governor Chafee's petition for a writ of certiorari is available in Adobe .pdf format.
"RI gov asks US Supreme Court to review inmate case," is the AP filing, via the Boston Globe.
Rhode Island’s governor has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of an inmate at the center of a legal tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s office said Tuesday that attorneys have filed legal paperwork seeking to appeal a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that Jason Pleau may stand trial in federal court, where prosecutors say they intend to seek the death penalty.
And:
Chafee has been fighting since June 2011 to prevent Pleau from being prosecuted in federal court. Rhode Island doesn’t have capital punishment.
Pleau’s defense team intends to file its own request for Supreme Court review.
Earlier coverage of the Rhode Island-Federal dispute begins at the link. Related posts are in the federal death penalty category index.
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