Supreme Court declines to hear teen's appeal

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a youth who received life in prison without parole for stabbing his adoptive father to death. <br><br>Without comment, the

Tuesday, January 27th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a youth who received life in prison without parole for stabbing his adoptive father to death.

Without comment, the court let stand the conviction of Justin Ryan Long.

Justin Long was 15 when he killed his adoptive father Hoyt Long as he slept on the couch.

Long was sentenced in 2001 by a Stephens County judge.

Long had raised questions about whether he was competent to waive his right to a jury trial and also whether he should have been able to argue in his defense that he killed Long while under ``duress.''

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected those claims last year.

The high court also declined to take the appeal of an Oklahoma County man serving 777 years in prison for conning elderly people.

Homer Gene Earthman was sentenced by two different judges for scams, one of which involved charging an elderly woman 39-thousand dollars for trimming her trees.