The US Supreme Court has rejected a death penalty appeal by a North Texas man whose attorney argued he was, "predisposed to violence because he possessed the warrior gene."
Nobody disputed that Amos Wells of Forest Hill was killer, he admitted as much. In 2013 Wells was upset with then pregnant girlfriend Canice Reed and according to reports he went to her home in Fort Worth, killed her, her 10-year-old brother and their mother.
Wells later turned himself in to police and confessed to the three murders.
During the murder trial the defense team claimed that Wells had something called "the warrior gene," meaning he was programmed to be violent. The strategy backfired and the jury sentenced Wells to death.
Criminal Appellate attorney Mike Casillas, who did not work on this case, says if that kind of appeal landed on his desk, he would have thought it was a joke.
"I would have said you've got to be kidding me," said Casillas. "But I would have at least said it with some sympathy because I've seen what defense lawyers have to work with."
The case will now go back to a trial judge so an execution date can be scheduled for Wells.
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