JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A convicted killer who left Mississippi after being pardoned by ex-Gov. Haley Barbour may fight attempts to force him to return from Wyoming.

Joseph Ozment's attorney says he will defend his client's freedom if Ozment wants to stay in Wyoming.

Ozment worked as a trusty at the Governor's Mansion before his pardon.

He'd dropped out of sight by the time Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood obtained a judge's order requiring Ozment and four others to check in daily with corrections officials and attend court hearings.

Hood is challenging the pardons in a civil case rooted in state constitutional issues. The state Supreme Court has taken over the case.

Ozment was served with a summons on Sunday in Laramie, Wyo., to appear for court hearings.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)