FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2016, file photo, people stand on the steps of the Supreme Court at sunset in Washington. Seven years before Thomas Sims defended Sammie Stokes in a South Carolina death-penalty trial, he had prosecuted Stokes for assaulting his ex-wife. The trial record shows Sims never told the judge in the murder case about that earlier prosecution, not even when the ex-wife took the stand against his client to recount the assault. Stokes’ case is one of two the Supreme Court is weighing in which death-row inmates are raising questions about the actions of their lawyers. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)

WASHINGTON | The Supreme Court has denied appeals from death row inmates in Louisiana and South Carolina who questioned their lawyers’ actions.

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2016, file photo, people stand on the steps of the Supreme Court at sunset in Washington. Seven years before Thomas Sims defended Sammie Stokes in a South Carolina death-penalty trial, he had prosecuted Stokes for assaulting his ex-wife. The trial record shows Sims never told the judge in the murder case about that earlier prosecution, not even when the ex-wife took the stand against his client to recount the assault. Stokes’ case is one of two the Supreme Court is weighing in which death-row inmates are raising questions about the actions of their lawyers. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
FILE – In this Feb. 13, 2016, file photo, people stand on the steps of the Supreme Court at sunset in Washington. Seven years before Thomas Sims defended Sammie Stokes in a South Carolina death-penalty trial, he had prosecuted Stokes for assaulting his ex-wife. The trial record shows Sims never told the judge in the murder case about that earlier prosecution, not even when the ex-wife took the stand against his client to recount the assault. Stokes’ case is one of two the Supreme Court is weighing in which death-row inmates are raising questions about the actions of their lawyers. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
FILE – In this Feb. 13, 2016, file photo, people stand on the steps of the Supreme Court at sunset in Washington. Seven years before Thomas Sims defended Sammie Stokes in a South Carolina death-penalty trial, he had prosecuted Stokes for assaulting his ex-wife. The trial record shows Sims never told the judge in the murder case about that earlier prosecution, not even when the ex-wife took the stand against his client to recount the assault. Stokes’ case is one of two the Supreme Court is weighing in which death-row inmates are raising questions about the actions of their lawyers. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)

The justices on Monday did not comment on the cases of James Tyler of Louisiana and Sammie Stokes of South Carolina.

Tyler’s lawyer conceded his client’s guilt in the hope of drawing a life sentence, even though Tyler repeatedly objected to that strategy y.

Stokes’ lawyer had previously prosecuted him for assaulting his ex-wife. The lawyer never informed the judge of his earlier role, not even when the ex-wife took the stand against Stokes.

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