Motions denied in Renfro case

COEUR d'ALENE — Wearing glasses with his jail suit, Jonathan Renfro, the man accused of killing Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore, appeared chatty and upbeat with his public defenders Friday afternoon.

He wasn't smiling after Judge Lansing Haynes denied a series of the defense's motions, though, including a motion to strike the death penalty.

The defense briefly argued that the statutes in the case are in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution against cruel and unusual punishment.

Renfro's camp also argued there was too much discretion and the system arbitrarily chooses who should receive the death penalty or a life sentence.

There was also a motion relating to juror's qualification which was also denied.

Also among the motions was an attempt to strike the aggravating circumstance in the alleged homicide. That motion was also denied based on legal analysis.

Back in October, motions to take execution off the table for Renfro were also denied.

Renfro allegedly admitted shooting Moore in the face in a Coeur d'Alene neighborhood in May 2015. Moore had stopped Renfro, who was walking down a sidewalk in the middle of the night. Moore called in Renfro's driver's license information to central dispatch moments before the shooting.

The trial is set to begin July 31.