A man sent to Texas death row for strangling and trying to rape a woman jogging on a trail near her Houston home 16 years ago has lost a federal court appeal.
Arthur Lee Burton argued to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals his admission to a prison sociologist that he killed 48-year-old Nancy Adleman was improperly obtained and shouldn't have been used during his second punishment trial. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2001 threw out his original sentence and a new punishment trial was held the following year.
The 5th Circuit late Tuesday also rejected arguments the 43-year-old Burton had deficient legal help at his trial and in earlier appeals.
Evidence showed Adleman, a mother of three, was strangled with one of her own shoe laces.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
