AUSTIN — A judge on Tuesday denied a motion for a new trial for convicted UT-Austin murderer Meechaiel Criner.
The man sentenced to serve life in prison for the murder of a University of Texas student on campus appeared in court again Tuesday to appeal his conviction.
Criner was found guilty in the 2016 murder of Haruka Weiser in July 2018.
However, his attorneys argued at a hearing in September that new evidence could be the key to giving him a new trial. They're requesting his tablet be submitted for forensic testing because they claim it was being used during the time Weiser was killed.
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In a fairly quick hearing, Judge David Wahlberg said, "after carefully considering all of this, it's my opinion that the evidence related to the data on this computer is basically nothing more than a rabbit trail.”
The judge noted that while the evidence presented at the hearing in September was new, he said it wasn’t enough to change a jury’s verdict.
“The circumstantial evidence of this defendant’s guilt was overwhelming. And any evidence relating to the data contained in this computer would therefore have no way have affected the guilty verdict by the jury in this case,” Judge Wahlberg said.
Wahlberg denied the motion after around 10 minutes in the courtroom.
"Well, that went fast," said Criner, before exiting the courtroom and thanking everybody.
Ariel Payan, defense attorney, said “I’m not surprised” as he exited the courtroom.