A federal appeals court is weighing whether to overturn the murder conviction and death sentence of a California inmate whose attorneys say he was improperly shackled during his trial.

Marvin Pete Walker Jr. has been on Death Row for more than 30 years following his 1980 conviction in the shooting death of a 15-year-old at a San Jose liquor store during a holdup.

A federal judge ruled last year that Walker's murder conviction and death sentence should be set aside, saying Walker's shackling had tainted his trial.

The state appealed that decision and says the shackling, while perhaps a mistake, did not alter the jury's verdict. The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bit.ly/WWnHGz) that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the appeal earlier this month and is now set to make a decision.