Shaun Fairman has lost another appeal of his murder conviction for the shooting death of his father-in-law in June of 2012.
A State Superior Court decision on Tuesday denies the 40-year-old Fairman’s claim that he had ineffective counsel at his Post-Conviction Relief hearing, affirming that Judge William Martin’s decision is correct. Martin ruled that Fairman’s attorney had a reasonable basis for not filing a motion to suppress the defendant’s confession made on the night he killed Richard Shotts at the home of Fairman’s estranged wife, south of Trade City.
Fairman contended that he was extremely drunk on the night of the shooting, that he was on medication for depression, and that he was suffering blood loss after being shot twice in the shoulder by his wife, Jessica, who was defending herself and her children and mother-in-law after the initial shooting.
The appeals court ruled that Fairman failed to show that suppressing the statements would have given him the “reasonable probability that the verdict would have been more favorable.”
Fairman had previously lost appeals before both the state Superior and Supreme courts. He is serving life in prison with the chance at parole at SCI Forest County.
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