INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A man convicted of killing a Gary police officer in 1981 can face the death penalty for a third time, but he can't be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled.
The 3-2 ruling Wednesday clarified which version of the state's death penalty law applied to Zolo Agona Azania.
The court in May reversed a trial court ruling and found that prosecutors could seek the death penalty again against Azania, but left attorneys wondering if he might also be eligible for life in prison without parole.
The court said Wednesday that he would not, because that law specifically states that it is available only in cases where defendants committed their crimes after June 30, 1993.
In 2002, the General Assembly changed the law so that judges must abide by jury findings in capital cases. The court said Azania must be sentenced under those rules.
Allen County juries sentenced Azania, formerly known as Rufus Averhart, to death twice for killing Gary police Lt. George Yaros during a bank robbery. The state Supreme Court overturned the sentences but upheld the conviction.
The Azania case has dragged on for more than two decades after the sentencing phases of his trial were marred with controversy. His first death sentence in 1982 was overturned because of ineffective defense attorneys. The second, in 1996, was disallowed after officials discovered a computer glitch that limited the number of blacks eligible for jury service in Allen County. Azania is black.
The case was moved to Allen County because of pretrial publicity in northwestern Indiana.
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