Judge won’t overturn conviction in slaying of police officer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A federal judge says he won’t overturn the 2006 murder conviction of a man found guilty of killing a Rhode Island police officer with the cop’s service weapon at police headquarters.

The Providence Journal reports that U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. dismissed the lawsuit on Monday filed by 39-year-old Esteban Carpio seeking a new trial in the 2005 killing of Providence police detective Sgt. James Allen.

Carpio argued he should have been ruled insane, saying the judge’s instructions to the jury to reach a result that satisfied the “community’s sense of justice” undermined his case. McConnell rejected those claims in his ruling.

Authorities say that when Carpio was taken to headquarters to be questioned about a stabbing, he shot the 50-year-old Allen. Carpio is serving life in prison.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.providencejournal.com