The attorney for convicted killer Craig Wood is asking the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence.
A Greene County judge sentenced Wood to death for kidnapping and killing 10-year-old Hailey Owens in Springfield back in 2014.
The jury deadlocked on what sentence to give Wood, so the judge gave him the death penalty.
Missouri and Indiana are the only states where a judge can impose a death sentence.
When a jury is deadlocked in other states, the defendant gets life in prison.
The defense says the process is unconstitutional.
The attorney didn’t dispute that Wood is guilty, but says he should get life in prison instead of death.
The Missouri Attorney General says the courts have repeatedly ruled that it’s ok for judges to impose the death sentence in cases like Wood’s.
The Missourinet reports Hailey Owens’ family was not in the courtroom.
Neither was Craig Wood’s family.
