Video: Supreme Court Upholds Former MSU Student’s Death Sentence

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OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — The state’s highest court upholds a former MSU student’s death sentence. An Oktibbeha County Circuit Court jury convicted Bobby Batiste of capital murder and prdered the death penalty following a five-day trial in October 2009. Batiste, who is now 33, was convicted of robbing and killing his roommate, Andy Galanis, in their off-campus apartment in May 2008.

Batiste appealed the conviction, arguing 15 different errors ranging from jury instructions to faulty evidence. In a 122-page opinion released Thursday, the state Supreme Court rejected those arguments, saying Judge Jim Kitchens committed no reversible errors and that the evidence supported the jury’s verdict. The court decision was split 6-3.