He's already been sentenced to death twice. Monday morning, Briley Piper appealed his case a third time in front of the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Piper is sitting on death row for being part of a trio that brutally killed Chester Allen Poage near Spearfish 13 years ago.
Piper has already admitted he took part in the continuous stabbing, beating and stoning of Poage in March 2000 at Higgins Gulch near Spearfish. Piper argues his attorney gave him bad advice when he entered his guilty plea.
"Or do you say, 'But sorry, you're shackled to your plea that was made on bad advice in a material way to you, but you said the magic word so too bad?'" Piper's attorney Steve Miller said.
Piper was originally sentenced to die by a judge. The South Dakota Supreme Court overturned that sentence because attorneys told him if he pleaded guilty in front of a judge, a judge must sentence him. Piper was then sentenced to death by a jury. Now, attorneys are saying that same bad advice should allow Piper to take back his guilty plea and get a jury trial.
"Why wouldn't we insist that before we kill somebody we give them correct advice?" Miller said.
The South Dakota Attorney General's Office argues Piper knew what he was doing and wanted to plead guilty.
"Piper wanted to plead to the court and be sentenced by the court because he wanted to be the first of his trio to plead, and to appear to accept responsibility and to appear remorseful," Assistant Attorney General Paul Swedlund said.
The state also argued that Piper wanted to plead guilty because he knew the facts of Poage's murder were so heinous there's a good chance a jury would sentence him to death.
The South Dakota Supreme Court will make a decision on this third appeal at a later date.
A second defendant, Elijah Page, has already been executed. The third man, Darrell Hoadley, is currently serving a life sentence for the crime.
Watch the Supreme Court hearing by clicking on the video player below.
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