US Supreme Court Tosses Oklahoma Man's Death Penalty

The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence for an Oklahoma man convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of a 25-year-old woman and her two children.

The nation's highest court ruled Tuesday that a judge should not have allowed relatives of the victims to tell jurors their opinions on an appropriate sentence for 33-year-old Shaun Bosse.

Bosse was convicted and sentenced to death for the July 23, 2010, deaths of Katrina Griffin and her children, 8-year-old Christian and 6-year-old Chastity in McClain County.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Bosse's conviction and death sentence last year. But the Supreme Court says Bosse's attorney objected when prosecutors asked three of the victims' relatives to recommend a sentence to the jury. All three recommended death, and the jury agreed.

6/30/2015 Related Story: Convicted Killer Shaun Bosse Is Asking For A Retrial

He has been sitting on death row at the state penitentiary in McAlester since he his conviction and sentencing in 2012.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.