The Idaho Supreme Court is in Lewiston Thursday, where it is reviewing three cases, including the high court’s decision to vacate a conviction in an Idaho County murder.
Justices are traveling throughout the state on their annual spring tour.
On their Lewiston docket is the case of Mark Lankford, who along with his brother were convicted in 1984 of the murders of a couple camping in Idaho County in 1983.
Lankford’s first conviction and death sentence were overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals due to a mistake in jury instructions. He was convicted during a second trial in 2008 and sentenced to life in prison, and is being held at the Idaho Correctional Institution at Orofino.
The Idaho Supreme Court last summer vacated Lankford’s conviction on his claims of prosecutorial misconduct, and remanded the case back to the 2nd District Court.
The state pushed for a rehearing, arguing that the Supreme Court erroneously vacated the district court’s decision.
Justices also will hear arguments regarding a Kootenai County foreclosure action, and an easement across a parcel of land sold by tax deed. (LMT
