A convicted killer's appeal on grounds of ineffective counsel was denied by a Carson City judge on Friday.
Anthony Echols, 47, will return to Nevada State Prison to serve out his sentence of two life terms without parole after failing to prove that trial attorney Tod Young failed to investigate claims that Echols was suffering from Paxil withdrawal when he murdered Rick Albrecht in 2000.
Judge Bill Maddox also didn't find that an appeal was warranted based on Young's alleged failure to object to or ask for a mistrial when potential jurors expressed in front of the other prospects that they didn't believe a gun could accidentally fire twice. And Maddox rejected the argument that Young was ineffective when he failed to object to the prosecuting attorney commenting in court on allegations that were never testified to by witnesses.
Echols was convicted in 2003 of killing Richard Albrecht, a Carson City contractor whom Echols viewed as his romantic rival.
On Aug. 5, 2000, just hours after being arrested on a violating a restraining order brought by his estranged wife, Echols bailed out of jail, and confronted Albrecht at Albrecht's Firebox Road home.
Echols claimed that he never meant to shoot Albrecht and that he intended to kill himself. But after confronting Albrecht inside his home, when Echols went to stand from a sitting position, his weapon accidentally fired twice.
Prosecutors contended that Echols was upset at the relationship he perceived between Albrecht and Echols' estranged wife, and he intentionally killed Albrecht with two gunshots to the head.
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.