DEADWOOD - An attorney for Spearfish murder suspect Shane D. Bell wants 4th Circuit Judge Randall Macy to declare South Dakota's death penalty law unconstitutional.

Bell, 30, faces first-degree murder and attempted murder charges for a Dec. 21, 2008, shooting at a Spearfish motel. Bell has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

He has been held in the Lawrence County Jail at Deadwood since his Dec. 21 arrest for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Bobbi McClure. McClure's sister, Tammy Anderson, also was shot but survived. Anderson was hospitalized in Spearfish but has since been released.

Lawrence County State's Attorney John Fitzgerald is seeking the death penalty if Bell is convicted of murder.

Joe Kosel of Lead, one of two defense attorneys representing Bell, argued Thursday that the death penalty law violates portions of the U.S. and South Dakota constitutions. He said it violates prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment and equal protection. He also said the procedure of lethal injection is itself unconstitutional.

Fitzgerald said the Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty five times since it was re-instituted in the late 1970s.

During the 90-minute hearing, Kosel also sought to delay the trial, now scheduled for two weeks in November, and a number of steps to help his client.

Among them: limiting emotional words and actions by the prosecution and the alleged victims' families. Kosel said he asked to avoid influencing the jury into making an emotional decision.

"We have to be very careful with our language," Kosel said.

Macy said he would consider the issues and could announce his decisions at a Sept. 17 hearing.