McGillvary Appealed His Case, But Was Rejected
The decision also notes that McGillvary appealed his conviction of first-degree murder, “alleging that the court committed prejudicial errors during trial, and that the representation he received was ineffective.”
McGillvary also argued that police had failed to properly test the evidence at the crime scene to determine whether he was raped.
“For the first time on appeal, defendant asserts he should have been permitted to call the prosecutor and the judge as witnesses. Defendant believes the State did not do sufficient testing on the material gathered from the crime scene, and that the judge denied seeing sheriff’s officers laughing at his recorded statement when it was played to the jury.
These requests are procedurally improper and have no foundation in the record,” reads the judges’ decision.
During the trial, the decision also notes that McGillvary’s defense requested an adverse inference instruction, which would allow the jury to assume that evidence had been intentionally destroyed to prevent its use in litigation.
“He alleges the State should have administered a rape kit, tested a towel found at the crime scene for semen, and conducted forensic investigation to support his theory of the case,” the decision says.
His adverse inference instruction was denied, and later, his appeal was rejected by the Superior Court of New Jersey in 2021. McGillvary continues to fight for another appeal.
Main image: Kai, the hatchet wielding hitchhiker — aka Caleb Lawrence McGillvary.
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