TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma appeals court has upheld the life prison sentence handed a 35-year-old man who was convicted of first-degree murder in a fatal shooting.
The Court of Criminal Appeals handed down the decision Friday in the case of Jerrod Huey. Tulsa County jurors convicted Huey of first-degree murder last year in the March 2011 slaying of 33-year-old Johnny Dean Junior.
Police say Dean's body was found in a driveway with a van in which the shooting took place nearby. A prosecutor maintained that Dean was shot three times — in the arm, back and chest — with a .380-caliber handgun that was found in Huey's possession when he was arrested.
Huey's appellate attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stuart Southerland, did not immediately respond to an after-hours call seeking comment.