Idaho Supreme Court rejects age-related death row appeal

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Idaho Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a man who says he was too young to be sent to death row after he killed two people at the age of 19.

James Harvey Hairston was sentenced to death in 1996 in connection with the shooting deaths of an elderly couple. Prosecutors said William and Dalma Fuhriman, both 72, were killed during a burglary at their rural farmhouse, and the judge at Hairston's trial characterized the murders as executions for money.

The Idaho Supreme Court unanimously rejected Hairston's appeal on Monday, noting that while people under the age of 18 can't be sentenced to capital punishment the U.S. has no such prohibition for older defendants.

Hairston contended that because he was 19 at the time of the crimes, the court should have considered the fact that he was immature for his age, and taken that into account when determining his sentence.

Justice Richard Bevan, writing for the unanimous court, said Hairston failed to show that evolving standards of decency prohibited imposing the death penalty for people younger than 21.