Court Upholds Oklahoma Killer's Conviction

A divided federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and death sentence of an Oklahoma prison inmate who killed a Department of Corrections employee.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected appeals of 52-year-old John Grant. Grant was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1998 stabbing death of Gay Carter after Carter had removed Grant from a job in the prison kitchen.

The three-judge panel rejected claims of faulty jury instructions, constitutional violations, improper victim impact statements and ineffective defense counsel.

Chief Judge Mary Beth Briscoe dissented with the majority ruling that Grant's attorney was not ineffective.

Grant was serving a 35-year term for a 1980 robbery conviction when he stabbed Carter 16 times with a homemade knife after dragging her into a small closet.