A federal appeals court says it sympathizes with Missouri prison inmate Stacey Lannert, but her appeal is not a constitutional issue, and therefore is not something for a federal court to consider. Lannert is doing life in prison for killing her father. She had hoped the federal appeals court would order a new hearing so she could present a claim that she had been a battered child. In her trial 11 years ago, a judge refused to allow the defense.
