A gang member sentenced to 40 years in prison for his part in a 2003 killing in Las Vegas has lost a Nevada Supreme Court appeal.
The high court rejected the appeal from Julius Bradford, a Rolling 60s gang member who was convicted for his role in the slaying of Benito Zambrano-Lopez, who was beaten and shot in the back multiple times.
According to court records, Bradford and two other men confronted the victim as he walked home from a grocery store, and beat him. Prosecutors said the three planned to rob Zambrano-Lopez, a 48-year-old laborer, and one of the men with Bradford shot Zambrano-Lopez when he resisted.
Justices rejected Bradford's arguments that there was insufficient evidence against him and that the trial judge erred in giving instructions to jurors and in admitting evidence of prior bad acts.
The high court previously had granted an appeal from Bradford, which led to a retrial because of questionable jury instructions in the first trial. Bradford filed the latest appeal with the Supreme Court after being sentenced again to prison.
Justices also upheld the murder conviction of a former Bullhead City, Ariz., man found guilty of robbing and killing a man he met at a gay bar in 2001.
Gregory Amato was sentenced in Las Vegas to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 41 years for the murder of Jimmie Ingle, 57. Ingle's bludgeoned body was found near a water tower outside Laughlin, in southern Nevada.
Amato was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, auto theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, burglary and fraudulent use of a credit card. Prosecutors said Amato used Ingle's credit cards to book a hotel room and buy gas, cigarettes and beer, and sold Ingle's pickup truck to a prostitute for $300.
In a third case, the Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of Jemar Matthews, involved in a September 2006 shooting barrage in West Las Vegas that killed Mercy Williams. Investigators said nearly 40 shell casings from three different weapons were found at the scene.