Ottawa ? Prosecutors can pursue the death penalty against Kyle Flack, the defendant in a quadruple homicide case, Franklin County District Judge Eric Godderz ruled Friday.

Flack, 29, of Ottawa, is accused of killing Kaylie Bailey, 21, of Olathe; her 18-month-old daughter, Lana-Leigh; Andrew Adam Stout, 30, of Ottawa; and Steven Eugene White, 31, of Ottawa. Flack pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and rape after the four were found slain near Ottawa in the spring of 2013.

Kyle Flack, accused in a 2013 quadruple homicide in Franklin County, listens to defense attorney Tim Frieden during a hearing on Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

Flack’s attorney, Tim Frieden, argued in court Friday that the state should be banned from pursuing the death penalty because “the maturing world’s society is for the abolition of the death penalty.” Frieden said that 140 countries in the world have abolished the death penalty.

“There are different ways to look at the Constitution, whether it’s a written document, or a living document,” Frieden said. “Based on a global scale, the death penalty would be unconstitutional.”

Frieden wrote in his motion to ban the death penalty that global society shapes the nation’s highest court’s decisions on proper punishments.

“The United State Supreme Court has long referred to the laws of other countries and to international authorities as instructive for its interpretation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments,” Frieden said.

Members of the public watching the hearing on the state’s side of the courtroom shook their heads in disapproval while Frieden spoke. Flack’s face appeared stoic, but he bounced his leg rapidly as his attorney argued for his life.

According to recent motions filed with the court, the state theorizes that Flack killed Stout on April 29, 2013, and two days later pretended to be Stout over text messages to lure Bailey, who was Stout’s girlfriend, and her daughter to Stout’s residence to kill them. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jeremi Thompson previously testified that Flack told him Flack and Stout had killed White together sometime before Stout’s death.

Franklin County District Attorney Stephen Hunting said the state has the right to pursue capital punishment, citing court decisions upholding Kansas’ capital punishment statute. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kansas’ death penalty statute as recently as 2006, Hunting said.

“No Kansas court rulings, federal court rulings or legislative action have removed the death penalty as an option for the state to seek,” Hunting said.

Additionally, Hunting said that while the state can ask that capital punishment be an option, the jurors decide whether a convicted person should be put to death.

“The decision is ultimately left up to the jury,” Hunting said. “The community ensures that society’s ‘evolving standard of decency’ is reflected.”

Judge Godderz ruled with the state, telling Frieden that the court is bound to follow Kansas law and case precedent set forth in Kansas and U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

“If you want changes in the (death penalty) law, you should take your concerns to the Legislature; that’s the proper venue” Godderz said. “This district court is bound to follow precedents set forth in Kansas and Supreme Court rulings.”

Also Friday, Hunting asked for a hearing for the court to review “gruesome photographs” of the crime to determine whether they should be admissible at trial.

According to its motion for the hearing, the state plans to argue that it should be allowed to show images illustrating the nature and extent of the victims’ wounds when they corroborate testimony, “even though they may be gruesome.”

When Frieden did not oppose the state’s request for a hearing, Godderz set a date of April 8 to review the images. Hunting said the court should expect the hearing to take up most of the day.