An attempt by Scott F. Doll to get his 2010 murder conviction overturned has hit a final state-level roadblock, with New York's Court of Appeals turning down a request for either a hearing or a new trial based on Doll's lack of legal right to seek the appeal.
An attorney for Doll, Timothy Murphy, argued in January 2016, before Interim County Court Judge Micheal Pietruszka, that his client should get a new trial because of what he believed was a mishandling of fingernail scrapings from the murder victim, Joseph Benaquist, and the possibility of third-party blood DNA on one of the boots of Benaquist.
Pietruszka denied the appeal and Murphy appealed to the Fourth Department of the New York Court of Appeals and a judge there ruled that the department wouldn't hear the appeal or grant a new trial.
Today, a judge with the state's Court of Appeals issued a ruling that said Doll was asking for an appeal on issues that were not appealable.
For previous Scott Doll coverage, click here.
