MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A retired judge has denied a request for a new trial by a Montana man who was convicted of fatally shooting a German exchange student in 2014.
Markus Kaarma’s new attorneys argued that the lawyers in his trial for the killing of 17-year-old Diren Dede provided him with ineffective assistance by not fully defining self-defense statutes to the jury. The Missoulian reported Tuesday that retired Missoula Judge Ed McLean, who presided over Kaarma’s case and sentenced him to 70 years, disagreed, saying Kaarma received “professionally competent assistance.”
Kaarma said he was defending himself when Dede entered his garage in Missoula to steal beer. Prosecutors said Kaarma and his girlfriend were trying to lure a burglar by leaving the garage door open after being burglarized twice before.
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Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com
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