A three-judge panel of the 6th U

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati set aside the death sentence of Gary Bradford Cone for the second time in three years, saying the court's instructions to the jury were "unconstitutionally vague." The Court said that one of the circumstances the jury relied upon in imposing the death sentence was that the murders were "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel in that it involved torture or depravity of mind." The circuit court panel said that wording is unconstitutionally vague and violates the Eighth Amendment. "The court concludes that applying the 'heinous, atrocious, and cruel' aggravator to Cone's case was not only wrong but contrary to clearly established federal law," Judge James L. Ryan wrote in the court's opinion. The panel let stand Cone's murder conviction and gave the state 180 days to conduct a new sentencing hearing. Cone was convicted in state court of 1st-degree murder in 1982 for the bludgeoning deaths of Shipley Todd, 93, and his 79-year-old wife Cleopatra "Clee" Todd. In March 2001 a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside his death sentence, citing ineffective counsel. But the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the appeals court's decision in May 2002, saying Cone's complaints about his lawyer were not enough to justify an exception to federal rules intended to streamline appeals that can stretch for decades. The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the Cincinnati court, setting up Monday's decision on other issues raised in Cone's initial filing.