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Idaho Supreme Court rejects age-related death row appeal

James Harvey Hairston was sent to death row after he was convicted of killing an elderly couple at the age of 19.

Credit: IDOC

James Harvey Hairston is on Idaho's death row for killing an elderly couple.

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a man who says he was too young to be sent to death row after he was convicted of killing two people at the age of 19.

James Harvey Hairston was sentenced to death in 1996 in the shooting deaths of an elderly couple.

Prosecutors said William and Dalma Fuhriman, both 72, were killed during a burglary at their rural farmhouse.

The Idaho Supreme Court unanimously rejected Hairston's appeal on Monday, noting that while people under 18 can't be sentenced to capital punishment, the U.S. has no such prohibition for older defendants.

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