Sims was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the December 1977 murder of George Pfeil, an off-duty deputy sheriff who had entered a pharmacy while it was being robbed by Sims and three other men. He challenged his pending execution, currently scheduled for 7:00 a.m., Feb. 23. The trial court refused his requests, and he appeals. Simultaneously he has filed a petition for habeas corpus, also challenging his death sentence.