KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It's now up to a judge to decide if a death-row inmate will get a new trial.
37-year-old Lemaricus Davidson was convicted for killing a young Knox County couple and sentenced to die back in 2009.
Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were out on a date in January 2007 when attackers carjacked raped, tortured and killed them.
Four people, including Davidson, were convicted for their roles in the killings. One awaits trial.
Davidson is now fighting to get off of death row.
The judge said he expects to take a few weeks to decide after the post-conviction hearing wrapped up Tuesday. Attorneys argued Davidson's sentence and prosecution were unconstitutional. They said his original attorneys should have demanded a jury from outside the county, arguing the Knox County pool was tainted by pretrial publicity and community outrage.
"And even if the guilt was overwhelming against Mr. Davidson, it's never inevitable in our system that someone's going to be sentenced to death," Davidson's attorney William Howell said.
Prosecutors said Davidson did get a fair trial and a fair jury. Deputy District Attorney General Leland Price explained to the court the jury selection process took weeks, surveying a pool of hundreds of people through multiple rounds of questioning.
He said he was concerned at the time about finding a Knox County jury, and he recognized the public interest in the case.
"My concern was, yes, if we couldn't get a jury now, I'm not sure when we could get a jury, no matter how many people we brought in," Price said.
Channon Christian's mother, Deena, says it's not fair that death row cases last so long.
"For him to get chance after chance after chance, Channon and Chris didn't get a second chance," Deena Christian, Channon's mother, said. "You know, they were good kids and would have been good for this world. But they're gone."
Gary Christian, Channon's father, believes Davidson killed his daughter. He says he still would like to meet with Davidson before he is executed.
"I would use most of my time with him to tell him that he needs Jesus Christ," Christian said.
He hopes the death sentence still stands.
"Even then, he'll still have his justice, but on this earth, that's as close as I'm going to get to justice," Christian said.