Judge Hears Appeal To Overturn Death Penalty Sentence

DENVER (CBS4) - A judge will hear an appeal from Sir Mario Owens, one of the three men on Colorado's death row, because of alleged juror misconduct.

It was June of 2008 when a jury returned its verdict. Owens was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe were murdered after he was threatened not to testify in another case. Their car was riddled with bullets in a drive by shooting.

According to court documents, Owens' attorneys are alleging one of the jurors lied on a questionnaire about not having any convictions, lied about her education, spoke with a witness and more.

If the judge finds that trial was affected he could order the case to be heard again by a new jury. The juror whose conduct is in question failed to appear at a previous court session and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Along with Sir Mario Owens, Robert Ray was convicted in the murder of the couple. He is also on death row along with Nathan Dunlap, convicted in the 1993 Chuck E Cheese murder case, but has received a temporary reprieve from Governor John Hickenlooper.