In Olympia, the state Supreme Court has overturned...

In Olympia, the state Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of a man convicted in the 1998 killing of his boss. The court agreed unanimously with Covell Thomas' contention that faulty jury instructions allowed the jury to sentence him to death without requiring prosecutors to prove that he personally caused the death of Richard Geist, 26, who died of 4 gunshots to the head after a robbery. Without questioning his guilt, the court sent Thomas' case back to Pierce County Superior Court, where prosecutors will have the choice of retrying him for aggravated first-degree murder in a bid to reinstate the death penalty, or sentencing him to prison for the lesser charge of 1st-degree murder.