Jury rejects death penalty for man who killed Lake County deputy
Jurors voted Wednesday to reject the death penalty for a man convicted of killing a Lake County deputy.
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Jason Wheeler was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 for killing Deputy Wayne Koester.
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However, Wheeler was granted a hearing after a new state law required death penalty recommendations to be unanimous.
In 2016, the state Supreme Court ruled that someone can only be sentenced to death if the jury reaches that decision unanimously.
State lawmakers made that a part of state law the very next year.
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Wheeler will now serve the rest of his life in prison without the chance for parole.
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