The Ohio Supreme Court has denied a request to halt the Tuesday execution of a man who fatally shot his
three sons while they slept in 1982.
The high court on Monday rejected Reginald Brooks' request just hours after a state appeals court denied his appeal for a chance to seek a new trial.
An attorney for the 66-year-old Brooks, of East Cleveland, had indicated earlier that a new-trial request was pending in U.S. District Court if the state appeal failed. A separate appeal was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Brooks' lawyers argue he's mentally ill and incompetent for execution and that prosecutors withheld information that could have helped him at trial.
Prosecutors acknowledge Brooks is mentally ill but dispute that he's incompetent and that information was hidden.