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A petition by the Utah Attorney General's Office to block a new sentencing hearing for convicted murderer Mark Anthony Ott was denied early Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court refused the state's petition without comment, said Ott's defense attorney, Elizabeth Hunt.
Ott, 45, pleaded guilty in 2004 to capital murder in connection with the 2002 death of 6-year-old Lacey Lawrence, the daughter of his estranged wife's boyfriend. Ott is serving a prison term of life without parole for killing the girl by setting fire to his estranged wife's Layton home.
Under the plea, which was made to avoid the death penalty, Ott admitted only that there could be sufficient evidence to convict him.
The Utah Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision in January, said Ott's court-appointed defense attorney was ineffective because he failed to object to victim-impact evidence — including a six-minute videotape featuring pictures of Lacey and testimony from the girl's family about the devastating effect of her death.
The U.S. Supreme Court's denial Tuesday, in effect, upholds the Utah Supreme Court's ruling.
"We're disappointed obviously, but it wasn't entirely unexpected," said Laura Dupaix, chief of the Attorney General's Criminal Appeals Division. "They grant very few petitions."
The case is now expected to be returned to 2nd District Court in Farmington for a new sentencing hearing. No dates have been set.
"I am happy that the U.S. Supreme Court denied the state's petition to overturn our Utah Supreme Court's decision," Hunt said in an e-mail. "Once the case works its way back to the trial court, I believe that under the terms of the Utah Supreme Court's decision, Ott may have a new sentencing hearing to determine whether he can have a slim hope of parole someday."