HOUSTON (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court finding that a man condemned for the slaying of a Dallas-area woman abducted as she rode her bike to work is not mentally impaired and may be put to death.

The decision Tuesday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals moves 30-year-old Michael Wayne Hall a step closer to execution for the 1998 torture and fatal shooting of 19-year-old Amy Robinson of Arlington.

Attorneys had argued Hall was ineligible for execution under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bars the death penalty for mentally impaired people.

The appeals court ruling comes after a federal district judge found Hall was not impaired. The 5th Circuit had ordered a hearing after criticizing state courts for refusing to hold one.

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