AUSTIN, Texas — The Third Court of Appeals affirmed on Nov. 15 the conviction of a man by a Travis County jury for strangling 18-year-old Haruka Weiser in 2016.
Last year, Meechaiel Criner was convicted of strangling Weiser, who was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, and hiding her body next to a creek near the university's alumni center.
The Court of Appeals found the trial court's decision to convict Criner would stand, rejecting Criner's motion to suppress evidence at trial.
"The evidence presented at trial overwhelmingly linked Criner to the offense in question," the court stated in its opinion.
Criner's motion for a new trial was also overruled, and the court rejected Criner's constitutional challenges to Texas' mandatory sentencing scheme.
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said this crime has forever changed how students and their parents feel about safety on the campus.
"I am proud of the hard work put into this case by this office," said Moore. "I know that Haruka's parents will receive this news with relief."
Criner is serving a life sentence in prison for the murder.
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