Justices uphold death sentence for killing social workers

<p>The state Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing three Aiken County social workers in 1996.</p><p>The justices ruled Monday that David Mark Hill was properly found competent to stand trial and the jury was selected appropriately.</p><p>Hill, 44, walked into the Department of Social Services office in North Augusta in September 1996 and killed three workers.</p><p>The court did overturn Hill's conviction on attempted murder and burglary charges, but that won't affect his death sentence. The justices said prosecutors could not try Hill on a burglary charge because there was no locked door or other barrier between the lobby and the social workers' offices.</p><p>Hill said he killed social worker James Riddle because Riddle was involved in a case that removed Hill's children from his home. Hill said he killed Michael Gregory because Gregory had seen him with the gun and Josie Curry "because she was black," according to court documents.</p><p>A day later, police found Hill near some railroad tracks. He had shot himself in the mouth in a suicide attempt. He confessed to investigators after he was taken to the hospital.</p><p>The justices said the confession should be allowed because Hill's injuries did not make him mentally incompetent and he was not directly told he would die.</p><p>Hill suffered some memory loss from the gunshot wound, but the justices ruled that did not affect his defense.</p><p>The justices split on a jury selection matter. The 3-2 majority ruled that the trial judge did not have to agree to the defense's request to ask each potential juror if they could be the lone holdout for a life or death sentence.</p><p>In a dissent, justices John Waller and James Moore said lawyers should be able to ask if a juror can vote independent of the majority.</p>