The Missouri Supreme Court found that Cole County Presiding Judge Pat Joyce did not err in denying a Jefferson City man post-conviction relief after he was found guilty of a murder over a decade ago.
A lawyer representing David Hosier had argued to the high court in April that her client should get a new trial or, at least, a new sentencing hearing.
Amy Bartholow, of the Missouri State Public Defender System, said his trial and appeals attorneys didn't give him the legal assistance he should have had.
But in its ruling Tuesday, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, said Joyce had correctly found Hosier did not receive ineffective legal assistance.
Hosier's trial attorneys were Don Catlett and Janice Zembles from the Public Defender System's capital division, which represents people charged with murder but who can't afford their own lawyer.
Hosier, now 64, faces the death penalty after he was convicted in an October 2013 trial for the Sept. 28, 2009, murder of Angela Gilpin, 45, at her apartment in the 1100 block of West High Street.
Gilpin's estranged husband, Rodney Gilpin, 61, also was killed in the early morning shooting in the doorway to Angela's apartment, but Hosier was tried only for killing Angela.
During the Gilpins' separation, Hosier and Angela had an affair, and Hosier told friends he was unhappy she had decided to reconcile with Rodney and revive their marriage.
After the murders, then-Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson charged Hosier in 2009 with two counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, plus burglary and illegal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
After Hosier's 2013 conviction, the pending charge in Rodney Gilpin's murder was dismissed.
In cases where the death penalty is a possible punishment, jurors first must hear the case against the accused and decide whether that person is guilty or not guilty.
Only if the jury makes a guilty verdict is there a second hearing to determine whether the punishment should be life in prison without parole, or the death penalty.
In Tuesday's ruling, the Supreme Court noted they had already affirmed Hosier's convictions in this case on direct appeal.
They also overruled Hosier's motion to disqualify Joyce, who he alleged should have been recused from his criminal trial because she once had been an attorney of record in a child support case involving his ex-wife.
Hosier remains imprisoned on death row at the Potosi Correctional Center. There are currently no executions scheduled in Missouri.