Supreme Court rejects appeal from Virginia death row inmate

(AP) — The nation's highest court on Tuesday refused to hear the appeal of a Virginia death row inmate who killed a hospital security guard and sheriff's deputy during an escape that sparked a massive manhunt that shut down Virginia Tech's campus in 2006.

Attorneys for Morva, now 35, told the Supreme Court that he was unfairly prevented from presenting evidence at trial to refute prosecutors' argument that Morva would threaten the lives of prison guards and others if allowed to live.

Morva's trial lawyers had said a forensic psychologist would have shown jurors that Morva wasn't dangerous in prison, but they were blocked from presenting that testimony.

"With that testimony excluded, the prosecution argued freely to the jury — without fear of any meaningful rebuttal — that Mr. Morva would endanger the lives of prison guards unless sentenced to death," his attorneys told the Supreme Court.