Judge Considers Wyoming Death Row Inmates Request

A federal judge is set to hear arguments on whether to grant Wyoming's lone death row inmate new hearings on his claims that he didn't get a fair trial.

Dale Wayne Eaton is challenging the constitutionality of the state death sentence he received in the 1988 rape and murder of an 18-year-old Lisa Marie Kimmell of Billings, Mont.

Eaton's lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne to rule that the death sentence violated Eaton's constitutional rights. State lawyers argue that Eaton was treated fairly in the state court system.

Johnson has set a hearing for Monday morning to consider whether to grant a request from state lawyers to dismiss Eaton's request for new hearings on his claims.