The Utah Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that allows the former mayor of Eagle Mountain to sue the city for legal fees incurred during his embezzlement trial.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the ruling was issued on Friday. The ruling allows a civil lawsuit to go forward in 4th District Court.

In 2008, Brian B. Olsen was acquitted in a misuse of public funds case. Olsen sought $120,000 in legal fees from the city. He sued in 2009, claiming state law provides for the payment of legal fees when a public official is prosecuted and acquitted.

Eagle Mountain contests Olsen's demand for fees and contends he didn't seek didn't submit a timely request for the city to defend him at trial, as is required under Utah law.

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a defendant who was convicted of attempted murder in Louisiana by a jury's 10-2 vote.

The justices acted without comment Tuesday in turning down a plea from Troy Barbour to require juries in all criminal trials to reach unanimous verdicts to convict. Two states, Louisiana and Oregon, allow defendants to be convicted of most crimes despite disagreement among jurors.

Those states rely on a nearly 40-year-old Supreme Court ruling that mandates unanimous verdicts in federal, but not state, criminal trials.

A Texas man on Nebraska's death row for killing two men has appealed his case to the state Supreme Court.

Marco Torres Jr., formerly of Pasadena, Texas, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and other charges in the 2007 shooting deaths of two Grand Island men, 48-year-old Timothy Donohue and 60-year-old Edward Hall.

Prosecutors said Torres fled to Texas after the shootings and burned Hall's car in a remote area. He was arrested in Houston.

Torres is asking the high court to throw out his conviction because some evidence shouldn't have been allowed, and his objection to the sentencing process shouldn't have resulted in a death sentence, among other things. Arguments will be heard March 2.

Thursday's admission in a Provo courtroom means that Keith Brown, 55, will go to prison for at least 10 years.

None of the sisters were in court, but a statement issued to The Associated Press by group spokesman Kimball Thomson said they were satisfied with the plea agreement.

"While clearly the current events surrounding the family are painful, the sisters were well prepared for this day, and are relieved and grateful to close this chapter in their lives," Kimball said.

Brown's three daughters and two sons are part of the classical piano group The 5 Browns, whose albums have topped the classical music charts and who have appeared on "Oprah" and other shows. The group also has been profiled by "60 Minutes."

Brown appeared in Fourth District Count with scratches and bruises on his face but with few other signs of the horrific crash three days earlier in which his Porsche plunged 300 feet into a canyon, also injuring his wife.

Defense lawyers for Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan's brother are asking a judge to throw out statements he made to police after the death of their father last year.

Mark Kerrigan has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the case.

Prosecutors say 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan was fatally injured in a violent fight with his drunken son at the family's Stoneham home. Kerrigan's lawyer and family say his father died from a longstanding heart condition and his son was not responsible.

Kerrigan's lawyer says he was so intoxicated when police first questioned him that he could not have voluntarily waived his right to silence.

At a court hearing Thursday, a police officer testified Mark Kerrigan yelled vulgarities when officers tried to handcuff him as emergency medical technicians tended to his father.

The 5 Browns are a piano group from Utah that features the three sisters and their two brothers. The Juilliard-trained siblings' CDs have topped the Billboard classical music charts and their concerts often sellout in all 50 states and in Japan, Germany, France, Korea, Mexico and England.

Their critical and popular acclaim has led to appearances on "Oprah," "The View" and other shows, and a profile by "60 Minutes."

The family patriarch, Keith Brown, survived the crash and faces one first-degree felony count of sodomy on a child and two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child, according to Fourth District Court records obtained Wednesday.

The records filed Feb. 10 in the abuse case don't identify any victim by name or indicate the relationship between Keith Brown and the alleged victims.