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Floyd Eugene Maestas — convicted to death for stomping on an elderly woman until she died in 2004 — will appeal his murder conviction to the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Attorneys for Maestas, 55, will argue the man's conviction should be overturned for several reasons, including a claim that Maestas is mentally retarded, making him exempt from the death penalty. Defense attorneys also will challenge DNA evidence linking Maestas to the crime. And they questioned trial judge Paul Maughan's decision to order Maestas' defense team not to present evidence harmful to his family at the sentencing.

The Utah Attorney General's Office, meanwhile, will ask the high court to uphold the sentence Maestas received following his trial in 2008 for the slaying of Donna Lou Bott.

Maestas and two other men broke into the home of the 72-year-old woman the night of Sept. 28, 2004, intent on robbing her. The co-defendants testified at trial that Maestas ran directly to the sleeping woman's bedroom, where he beat, strangled, stabbed and stomped her to death. The robbers left with only a handful of change. Assistant Attorney General Karen Klucznik will ask the Supreme Court to uphold the trial judge's ruling that Maestas is not mentally retarded.

The case before the high court on Tuesday will be the first time Utah's mental retardation exemption statute, passed into law in 2003, will be addressed.

Maestas' attorneys filed a motion for a new trial in 2008, where they argued their client received an unfair trial because of juror misconduct.

The defense pointed to improper discussions in the jury room because a female juror insisted the option of "life without parole" did not really mean an inmate would never get out of prison. The statement constituted "extraneous information" that should not have been considered by jurors, according to the defense.

Maughan ruled in a written opinion that the juror's knowledge came from attending a University of Utah criminology class, where a Utah Board of Pardons member was a guest. That puts the information in the category of a juror's "past, pretrial [or] personal experiences," which may be considered during jury deliberations, according to case law.

Defense attorneys also contended they might have bumped another juror from the panel had she divulged that her son had a lengthy record of juvenile court encounters. The defense argued the juror's alleged concealment prevented them from exploring issues of bias.

Maughan said the woman revealed while filling out a jury questionnaire that her son had been charged with a crime. The judge said the defense's failure to become aware of the specifics of the case resulted from the defense's "own decision to not engage in follow-up questioning."

Following Maughan's decision, Maestas' case proceeded to a review by the Utah Supreme Court.

Twitter: @mrogers_trib —

What's next

• The Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments 9 a.m. Tuesday on the appeal of Floyd Eugene Maestas, who is attempting to have his death penalty conviction overturned.

• Floyd Maestas and two other men broke into the home of Donna Lou Bott the night of Sept. 28, 2004, intent on robbing her. The co-defendants testified at Maestas' 2008 trial that Maestas beat, strangled, stabbed and stomped Bott to death. Maestas was also convicted of breaking into the home of an 87-year-old Virginia Chamberlain, of Salt Lake City. Maestas pulled the victim's T-shirt up over her head and stole her purse on the same night Bott was killed.