SAM HANANEL, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems inclined to rule against the perpetrators of what one justice called “some of the most horrendous murders” he’s ever seen from the bench.

The justices on Wednesday were critical of the Kansas Supreme Court, which overturned the death sentences of three men, including two brothers convicted in a murderous crime spree known as the “Wichita massacre.”

It was the first high-court hearing on death penalty cases since a clash over lethal injection procedures exposed deep divisions among the justices in the court’s last term.

The debate this time concerned the sentencing process for Jonathan and Reginald Carr and for Sidney Gleason, convicted in another case.

The state court ruled that jurors received flawed instructions about mitigating evidence and said the brothers should have been sentenced separately.