A federal appeals court in Vermont has rejected the appeal of a Massachusetts man serving a 40-year prison sentence for causing the death of a woman whom he believed had stolen drugs from him.
The federal court in Brattleboro, Vermont, says a rational fact finder could've reasonably concluded Frank Caraballo, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, caused the death of 30-year-old Melissa Barratt by murder.
A jury convicted him of causing Barratt's death and acquitted him of firing the weapon that killed her.
The Brattleboro Reformer reported Caraballo has said he was guilty of dealing drugs in Brattleboro in 2011 but that he didn't kill Barratt.
The appeals court rejected Caraballo's attorneys claim that the lower court should've thrown out testimony from a key witness for prosecutors.
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