Judge delays trial in Ohio fire that killed 9

CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge in Cleveland has delayed the July 12 trial of a man charged in the 2005 fire deaths of nine people, including eight children at a sleepover.

Federal Judge Solomon Oliver ruled late Tuesday that jury selection will now start July 29.

The defense for 26-year-old Antun Lewis of Cleveland wants to press the U.S. Justice Department to drop its pursuit of the death penalty.

The fire at a house in a rundown Cleveland neighborhood killed a woman and eight youngsters, including four of her five children.

Death-penalty cases are relatively rare in federal court. In 2008, three people were sentenced to death in federal courts compared with 108 in state courts.