Death row inmates file challenges based on new law

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Inmates on Connecticut's death row have begun filing challenges based on the state's new law outlawing capital punishment for future crimes.

Attorney Mark Rademacher tells the Hartford Courant he is seeking new arguments before the state Supreme Court to address the impact of the law on his client, Eduardo Santiago.

Santiago is on death row after being convicted in the 2000 murder of 45-year-old Joseph Niwinski in a murder for hire in exchange for a snowmobile.

A ruling is expected Monday in Santiago's original appeal to the high court.

Rademacher said he also plans to use the law to challenge the death sentence of Russell Peeler Jr. He was convicted of ordering the January 1999 killings of 8-year-old Leroy "B.J." Brown Jr., and his mother, Karen Clarke, in Bridgeport.