Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 | 4:26 p.m.
CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has denied the appeal of death row inmate William B. Leonard, convicted in the fatal stabbing of a fellow inmate at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City in 1987.
The court rejected the appeal in a 5-2 decision posted Thursday.
According to court records, Leonard argued he did not deserve the death penalty because new evidence shows he suffered mental health problems at the time he stabbed Joseph Wright with a prison-made shank.
The new mental health evidence indicates Leonard has poor impulse control and may react violently and uncontrollably when he feels threatened or if intoxicated or frightened, according to court records.
At the time, Leonard was in prison for killing two people in Mineral County. Wright was also serving a term for murder, according to court records.
The court, in the majority decision written by Chief Justice James Hardesty, said the new claims by Leonard lacked merit and he was not entitled to a new sentencing hearing. The court said there wasn’t enough evidence to show a miscarriage of justice.
Justices Michael Cherry and Nancy Saitta dissented.
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