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Utah man sentenced to life in prison seeks new trial

Danny Leroy Logue Courtesy Utah Department of Corrections

Provo • A Utah man is requesting a new trial after being found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Daily Herald reports that 49-year-old Danny Logue and his attorneys argued Tuesday in 4th District Court that he didn't have a fair trial.

Logue was convicted in May of the 2011 murder of 32-year-old Andy Purcell. Police reports say a drug dealer named Yuri Lara suspected Purcell was informing on him and hired Logue and Darrell Morris to beat him up. Police say they were paid in methamphetamine.

Morris says they did not intend to kill Purcell, who was shot to death May 16, 2011 on the front porch of his mother's Provo home.

Logue's attorney told the judge that the prosecution unfairly presented new witnesses and evidence four days into the trial. Prosecutors say it wasn't significant enough to influence the jury's verdict.

The judge hasn't announced his decision yet.

Darrell Wayne Morris

Darrell Wayne Morris appears in the 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Morris and two other men are facing murder charges stemming from the May 16 shooting of Andy Wendell Purcell in Provo. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald

Danny Leroy Logue appears in the 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Logue and two other men are facing murder charges stemming from the May 16 shooting of Andy Wendell Purcell in Provo. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald

Yuri Sanchez Lara

Darrell Wayne Morris appears in the 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Morris and two other men are facing murder charges stemming from the May 16 shooting of Andy Wendell Purcell in Provo. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald

Yuri Sanchez Lara appears in the 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Lara and two other men are facing murder charges stemming from the May 16 shooting of Andy Wendell Purcell in Provo. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald

Yuri Sanchez Lara appears in the 4th District Court in Provo on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Lara and two other men are facing murder charges stemming from the May 16 shooting of Andy Wendell Purcell in Provo. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald

Andrew Wendell Purcell. Courtesy Kimberly Purcell