Attorney Wants To Bar Penalty Queries

The attorney for a University of Idaho graduate student accused of murdering two fellow students from China wants to bar any questions about the death penalty when a jury is selected.

Public defender Michael Henegen, in a motion filed in 2nd District Court, said questioning potential jurors on how they feel about the death penalty could produce a jury that favors the death penalty. That jury would be more likely to convict Wenkai Li of murdering doctoral student Ning Li and his wife, Xia Ge, last Memorial Day in Moscow.

Wenkai Li has pleaded innocent. Trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 6.

Prosecutors said they would resist the motion, since normally the jury in a capital case is selected in part on a juror’s stance on the death penalty.

Any juror opposed to the death penalty likely would be excluded by the prosecution, said Robin Eckmann, deputy Latah County prosecutor.

Henegen also wants to bar statements made by Wenkai Li to officers when he was arrested in Wyoming. Police said the bodies of the victims were taken to Wyoming and dumped there, and Wenkai Li was arrested by officers in that state.

“I certainly feel as though we have a legitimate argument to make on (accepting the Wyoming evidence),” Eckmann said. “The state is certainly going to oppose those motions.”

Meanwhile, a cousin of Ning Li wrote a letter to Moscow residents calling for the death penalty and expressing indignation over the defendant’s lack of remorse.