Thursday, June 18, 2015 | 1:50 p.m.
CARSON CITY — A federal appeals court has denied the petition of a Las Vegas killer who maintains his attorney should have called him to testify at the District Court trial.
Mark Pray was sentenced to consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole for the fatal shooting of a man on Interstate 15 in 1996.
In his petition for a new trial, Pray said his attorney told the jury in opening statements that Pray would testify. But in a change of strategy, the defense lawyer never called Pray to the stand.
He maintained this showed the ineffectiveness of his counsel.
The U.S. Ninth Court of Appeals on Tuesday said the defense attorney told the jury during closing argument that he did not call Pray to testify because the prosecution had not proven its case.
The court said the performance of the defense lawyer was strategic “and within an objective standard of reasonableness.”
According to court records, Pray and his ex-wife were traveling on I-15 when they noticed another car they thought was following them. Pray, according to court records, speeded up and made a couple of U-turns to get away. He then stopped and fired six shots into the vehicle killing the victim, according to court records.
Pray told police he believed the victim was a man who had previously threatened to kill him, according to court records.
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