MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – A man serving life in prison for the 2021 killing of a woman in Minot has lost his appeal with the North Dakota Supreme Court.
Last September, a Ward County jury convicted 36-year-old Kamauri Kennedy of the death of Domonique Kelley. In December, the courts sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Kelley’s remains were found in a burned vehicle on a gravel road in June 2021, and her death was ruled a homicide.
Kennedy fled the state following Kelley’s death but was apprehended months later in Michigan.
Kennedy argued on appeal that the district court erred by failing to exclude prior bad acts as evidence. He also said the state committed prosecutorial misconduct in its closing argument, and the court wrongfully denied his request for alternate counsel.
The high court ruled it was Kennedy’s responsibility, not the district court’s, to object to evidence he believed was inadmissible.
The State Supreme Court also ruled that, although the state referenced the victim in closing arguments, trial law indicates that does not necessarily mean they are asking the jury to convict out of sympathy.
The court also ruled the lower court’s decision to deny Kennedy’s attorney a motion to withdraw was due to concerns over how delays would impact the case.
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