A former Utah doctor found guilty of drugging and drowning his wife in a bathtub lost his bid for a new trial this week, when the Utah Court of Appeals ruled there was enough evidence presented at his high-profile trial to convict him.
Martin MacNeill's attorneys argued last September that he should get a new trial because jurors relied on false testimony and thin evidence when they found him guilty in 2013 of first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstructing justice.
His appellate attorneys contended that prosecutors tainted the testimony of an important witnesses and engaged in misconduct when they withheld thousands of pages of evidence from MacNeill's trial attorneys.
But the high court found no error that warranted a new trial, and further ruled that there was ample evidence to prove MacNeill committed the crimes.
The former doctor will have his first bid at parole at a hearing in August 2052, when he is 96 years old.