A court hearing is scheduled for a former city bus driver accused of a string of deadly nighttime shootings in Phoenix.
A judge could rule in Friday morning's hearing whether to take the death penalty off the table in the case against Aaron Juan Saucedo.
It's unclear whether Saucedo will attend. He has chosen not to attend several previous hearings.
Saucedo has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in attacks that killed nine people and wounded two others during a nearly one-year period that ended in July 2016.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in eight of the deaths.
Defense attorneys say the death penalty should be dropped as punishment after a video of Saucedo in his jail cell was released to news media in January.
