Moeller Appeal Set for U.S. Circuit Court

    ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A South Dakota man on death row for the
1990 rape and murder of a 9-year-old Sioux Falls girl will have his
appeal heard by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals.
     Attorneys for 58-year-old Donald Moeller will appear in St. Paul
Thursday to argue his case.
     They say Moeller's rights were violated during his trial.
Specifically, they say he had ineffective counsel and a mistake was
made when jurors weren't told that life in prison meant no chance
for parole.
     Moeller was convicted in 1992 of killing Becky O'Connell and
sentenced to death. The South Dakota Supreme Court overturned that
conviction. During a second trial in 1997, he was again convicted
and sentenced to death.
     Moeller is challenging South Dakota's death penalty law in a
separate appeal.