Reversal of conviction draws appeal

DOVER, Del. - Delaware prosecutors are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court the reversal of the conviction and death sentence in the 2005 murder of University of Delaware student Lindsey Bonistall, officials said Friday.

In July, the state Supreme Court ruled, 3-2, that James E. Cooke Jr.'s right to a fair trial had been violated because his lawyers sought a verdict of guilty but mentally ill even though Cooke repeatedly disagreed and proclaimed his innocence.

Cooke was convicted in 2007 of breaking into Bonistall's apartment and raping and strangling the sophomore from White Plains, N.Y., before placing her body in a bathtub and setting the apartment on fire. - AP