RENO, Nev. (AP) — A lawyer for a Reno man convicted of raping and killing a 19-year-old college student in 2008 is attacking the DNA evidence in a last-ditch effort to get James Biela off death row.
The Nevada Supreme Court earlier rejected Biela's appeal in the murder of Brianna Denison and sexual assault of two other women near the University of Nevada's Reno campus.
His new lawyer, Edward Reed, argued in Washoe County District Court Thursday that his previous public defenders didn't adequately represent him.
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The lawyer also said a flood of pretrial publicity made it impossible for him to get a fair trial and that the odds of crime scene DNA belonging to Biela that was presented to the jury has been inflated.