COURT SETS A JULY 27 HEARING ON NEW DEATH DATE FOR ANDREWS

Court officials have scheduled a hearing July 27 to decide whether convicted Hi-Fi Shop killer William Andrews should be given a new death date, setting up what may be a last-minute courtroom drama in September.

Andrews, convicted in 1974 of killing three people and injuring two others in the Ogden Hi-Fi Shop, has a separate appeal pending before the Utah Supreme Court.The court is unlikely to hear the appeal until the week of Sept. 12. If Andrews is given a new execution date during the 9:30 a.m. hearing July 27, it would be valid for only 30 to 60 days.

And that may be cutting things too short, said Assistant Utah Attorney General Sandra Sjogren.

If the judge grants a new death warrant, Andrews, through his Seattle-based attorney Timothy Ford, is expected to ask for another stay of execution.

Officials in the state's 2nd District Court said the case will be heard by Judge Ronald O. Hyde, rather than John F. Wahlquist, the judge who has heard the case from the beginning.

In order to hear the case, Wahl-quist, who is now retired, would have to be requalified by the state court administrator's office and the Judicial Council. But the Judicial Council is not scheduled to meet again until August, officials said.

Hyde was appointed to hear the case to avoid further delays.

Andrews, 33, and co-defendant Pierre Dale Selby were convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery in the slayings, committed during the Hi-Fi Shop robbery April 22, 1974.

Selby was executed by lethal injection Aug. 28.