Delaware prosecutors are appealing the reversal of a conviction and death sentence in the murder of a college student to the U.S. Supreme Court, officials said Friday.

In July, the Delaware Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence of James E. Cooke Jr. in the 2005 rape and murder of University of Delaware student Lindsey Bonistall, a sophomore from White Plains, N.Y.

In a 3-2 ruling, the state court said Cooke's right to a fair trial was violated because his lawyers, against his wishes, sought a verdict of guilty but mentally ill. Defense lawyers settled on that strategy in an attempt to spare Cooke from the death penalty, even though he strongly disagreed and repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.

Cooke was convicted in 2007 of breaking into Bonistall's apartment and raping and strangling her before placing her body in a bathtub and setting the apartment on fire.

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Prosecutors argued at trial that the DNA evidence against Cooke was overwhelming. At the start of the trial, they played excerpts from a 911 tape in which they said Cooke, who is black, gave a dispatcher details about the killing, which the caller suggested was part of a drug war involving white supremacists. The voice on the tape also referred to "KKK" and "White Power" graffiti found in the apartment of Bonistall, who was white.

The appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is a long shot, given that the court hears only a tiny fraction of cases that are submitted.

But Attorney General Beau Biden said the Delaware Department of Justice has carefully reviewed the state Supreme Court's ruling and how the issues it considered have been dealt with by other courts.

"It is clear from that review that this case presents very complex and important legal issues that are subject to significant debate among legal authorities and have not yet been squarely addressed by the United States Supreme Court," Biden said in a statement.

"This case raises issues of profound constitutional significance," added Biden, who said his agency had consulted with Bonistall's family.

Telephone messages left for Bonistall's parents and Cooke's appeals attorneys were not immediately returned Friday.