Billings, Mont. (AP) The Montana supreme court has denied a Colorado man's petition to be declared unfit to stand trial in the murder of a high school teacher in the Bakken oil patch.
Attorneys for 25-year-old Michael Keith spell argued he would be unable to understand the case against him because he is mentally disabled.
But the high court said in a unanimous ruling Tuesday that his disability does not automatically mean spell can't understand the case and participate in his defense.
Justices also said State District Judge Richard Simonton acted within his discretion when he ruled spell's competency was restored since a 2010 drug case in Colorado in which he was declared incompetent.
Spell faces a November 17th trial in the January 2012 killing of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold. An accomplice pleaded guilty.