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Christopher Coleman denied new trial

Christopher Coleman.
Christopher Coleman.

Christopher Coleman, the man convicted May 5 of murdering his wife, Sheri, and their two young sons, has been denied a new trial.

Coleman is currently serving life in prison without parole for the killings.

Coleman's defense filed a motion June 3 for a new trial, which was denied Monday by St. Clair County (Ill.) Circuit Judge Milton Wharton.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Coleman's defense "laid out a 15-point argument — some oral, some written — describing what they claimed were courtroom errors in Coleman's case."

Among these arguments, the newspaper reports, were "that Wharton allowed hearsay testimony, including a claim that Coleman had beaten his wife in the past, and that jurors' statements after the trial suggested they went too far in examining photographic evidence."

According to the Belleville-News Democrat Coleman's defense team has appealed the case to an Illinois appellate court.