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Death penalty tossed out in Ga. triple murder case
Monday, Nov. 19, 2012
ATLANTA (AP) -- The Georgia Supreme Court has unanimously tossed out the death sentence of a man who was convicted of killing his wife and twin 2-year-old sons in Lithonia in 2006.
The court on Monday upheld Clayton Jerrod Ellington's murder conviction, and a jury will once again have the option to sentence him to death.
Ellington's attorneys had argued the trial court unfairly prohibited them from asking prospective jurors whether they would consider a life sentence rather than the death penalty.
Ellington was convicted of attacking his wife, Berna, with a hammer as she slept, and beating to death his twin sons in their cribs.
Officials in the DeKalb County Assistant District Attorney's office were not immediately available for comment.
(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)
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