Times Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS | In a split decision, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the man convicted of killing Gary police Lt. George Yaros during a 1981 bank robbery can be resentenced.

Zola Agona Azania, formerly known as Rufus Averhart, faces the possibility of the death penalty now that the state high court granted prosecutors petition for resentencing under the post-2002 death penalty statute.

Azania, 52, was convicted and sentenced to die in 1982. The state Supreme Court threw out the initial death sentence in 1993. It said Azania had ineffective counsel at sentencing.

Azania was sentenced to die a second time, but the state Supreme Court ruled blacks were inadvertently but improperly excluded from the jury pool. It vacated the death sentence.

When sentencing began for a third time, an Allen County judge ruled that new death penalty proceedings would violate Azania's right to a speedy trial and due process because evidence supporting his case is no longer available.

In the most recent ruling, the Supreme Court denied Azania's petition for rehearing.

Now, a new penalty phase will be conducted to determine Azania's fate.