Jury selection set to begin in Astorga sentencing | News

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Jury selection is set to begin in the death penalty phase in a trial of a man convicted of killing a Bernalillo County deputy.

Selection is scheduled Monday in Santa Fe in the sentencing phrase for Michael Paul Astorga, who was convicted in the 2006 killing of Deputy James McGrane Jr.

Jurors will be asked to sentence Astorga to life in prison or to death, even though New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009.

Astorga is still eligible for the death penalty since the crime occurred before the repeal.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the move comes as more states look at New Mexico on how to handle executions after the death penalty is repealed.

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