JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A man sentenced to death for killing two Mississippi State University students decades ago is asking for a new hearing.

On Thursday, Willie Jerome Manning filed a motion for rehearing before the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the 56-year-old man are asking for oral arguments.

“Manning provided the court with evidence of discredited forensic science and newly discovered evidence with the retractions of several key witnesses…In denying Manning’s request, the majority of the court misinterpreted the facts and the law,” his attorneys wrote.

Manning is represented by David Voisin of Hammon, Louisiana, Robert S. Mink of Jackson, and Krissy Nobile of the Mississippi Office of Post-Conviction Capital Counsel.

The 20-page presentation comes more than a month after the high court rejected Manning’s earlier motion for an evidentiary hearing in circuit court.

In a split 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that the evidence would not have changed the outcome of the case.

Manning was sentenced to death in 1994 for the murders of Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler, two MSU students.

The defendant has long asserted his innocence and has sought post-conviction relief on multiple occasions. His case even reached the United States Supreme Court.

Manning’s attorneys say that since his conviction, several witnesses have recanted their testimony, including Earl Jordan, who said in a sworn statement that “the sheriff … would ‘help’ him if he made a statement about Manning.”

Another witness, Paula Hathorn, said Manning did not return home the morning after the shooting and that a leather jacket was stolen from one of the victims.

Manning’s attorneys claim she received $17,000 for her statements and that “dozens of bad check charges were dropped as a result” of her testimony.

Another witness, Frank Parker, testified at trial that he heard Manning talk about how to dispose of the murder weapon. However, attorneys say the testimony is also not credible, based on comments from Henry Richardson, a cellmate of Manning’s who denied that the defendant ever said such a thing.

“The prosecution relied on lying, highly incentivized witnesses and discredited forensic evidence,” the motion states. “The court should not ignore the complete erosion of the reliability of the State’s case at trial, or the injustice that has occurred.”

Manning’s lawyers also say new ballistics evidence should be considered. At trial, evidence revealed that bullets found in a tree at Manning’s home matched bullets found at the crime scene. However, Manning maintains that new studies refute the validity of the tests used.

That evidence aside, prosecutors also point to what they say is a pattern of “wrongful convictions stemming from a single judicial district in Mississippi.”

Those cases include Kennedy Brewer, Levon Brooks, Tyler Edmonds, Eddie Lee Howard and Sabrina Butler Smith, all of whom have been exonerated and all of whom have been tried by the “same prosecutor,” according to court records.

“These numerous wrongful convictions stemming from the same judicial and prosecutorial district fit a pattern; flawed and false forensic analysis, and/or official misconduct,” the motion states. “Manning’s current case follows that model. A new hearing is justified here.”

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