Judge moves on cop killer death penalty case

A federal judge in Brooklyn on Thursday ordered up a jury pool of 1,000 people to decide -- for a second time -- whether convicted cop killer Ronell Wilson should get the death penalty.

Wilson was found guilty in 2006 of the 2003 murder of undercover cops James Nemorin of Baldwin Harbor and Rodney Andrews of Queens during a gun buy that went bad, but an appeals court overturned the jury's finding that he should be executed.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said he planned to begin the retrial of the so-called penalty phase on Oct. 1. The 1,000 jurors represent the same number that he needed to pick a jury for the death penalty trial of mobster Vincent Basciano last year.

Wilson's court-appointed lawyer, David Stern, signaled Thursday that he planned to present evidence that Wilson, now 29, was mentally disabled and as a result couldn't be executed. That claim wasn't presented at the first trial.