PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Donald E. Moeller’s petition for rehearing and his request for a rehearing en banc.
On May 21, 1997, Moeller was convicted of the rape and premeditated murder of 9-year-old Becky O’Connell that occurred on May 8, 1990, in Lincoln County. He was subsequently sentenced to death by the same jury. His conviction and sentence were affirmed by the South Dakota Supreme Court on August 30, 2000. Thereafter, he filed for habeas corpus relief in State Circuit Court. That petition was denied. The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the denial of state habeas on October 4, 2004. Moeller filed for federal habeas relief on Dec. 14, 2004. Federal District Court Judge Lawrence Piersol denied habeas relief on April 9, 2010.
Moeller has 90 days to ask the United States Supreme Court to hear his case.
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