New Hearing Ordered In Baton Rouge Restaurant Deaths

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A federal judge has granted a third hearing in a push by Todd Wessinger to overturn his death sentence for killing two workers at a Baton Rouge restaurant in 1995.

The Advocate reports U.S. District Judge James Brady scheduled the hearing for Dec. 13.

In February, Brady denied Wessinger a new trial. He ruled that overwhelming evidence in Wessinger's state court trial supported his conviction.

In April, however, Brady took additional defense motions under consideration and indefinitely blocked Wessinger's scheduled May 9 execution.

This past week, Brady rejected four of Wessinger's latest five claims of state court errors. But he ruled Wessinger's claim of "ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase of the trial" deserved a further hearing.