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7 June 2011
Last updated at 06:55 ET
Convicted killer Luke Mitchell's request to refer his case to the UK Supreme Court has been refused by judges at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Mitchell, 22, was trying to get his conviction for killing his teenage girlfriend Jodi Jones overturned on human rights grounds.
Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton and two other judges dismissed his claim.
He argued his human rights were breached when he was questioned by police without a lawyer.
His legal team can still make a direct application to the UK Supreme Court, an option that would not be available for similar cases in England and Wales.
Mitchell was given a life sentence in 2005 after he was found guilty of murdering his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
The Supreme Court ruled in October that the Scottish system which allowed suspects to be held and questioned for six hours without access to a lawyer breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
'Crucial' to case In light of the Cadder ruling, 867 cases were abandoned, including 60 serious cases, nine of which were High Court cases.
Mitchell, who was ordered to serve at least 20 years for the 2003 murder, claimed evidence taken from a police interview when he did not have access to a lawyer was "crucial" to the Crown case.
In April, Mitchell's attempt to challenge his conviction for murder following the human rights ruling was rejected by the Appeal Court in Edinburgh.
Earlier on Tuesday, he went again to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh to refer its decision to the UK Supreme Court in London but failed.
Two weeks ago, Nat Fraser won his appeal at the Supreme Court to have his conviction quashed.
Fraser, who was jailed after the High Court in Edinburgh heard he ordered a hitman to kill his wife, Arlene, in Elgin in 1998, had exhausted all avenues of appeal in Scotland.
The Supreme Court backed his appeal under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the ground of the Crown's non-disclosure of evidence to the defence.
They sent the case back to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh to be quashed.
The Fraser case has led to a political storm over the role of the UK Supreme Court in Scottish criminal cases.
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Mitchell, 22, was trying to get his conviction for killing his teenage girlfriend Jodi Jones overturned on human rights grounds.
Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton and two other judges dismissed his claim.
He argued his human rights were breached when he was questioned by police without a lawyer.
His legal team can still make a direct application to the UK Supreme Court, an option that would not be available for similar cases in England and Wales.
Mitchell was given a life sentence in 2005 after he was found guilty of murdering his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
The Supreme Court ruled in October that the Scottish system which allowed suspects to be held and questioned for six hours without access to a lawyer breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
'Crucial' to case In light of the Cadder ruling, 867 cases were abandoned, including 60 serious cases, nine of which were High Court cases.
Mitchell, who was ordered to serve at least 20 years for the 2003 murder, claimed evidence taken from a police interview when he did not have access to a lawyer was "crucial" to the Crown case.
In April, Mitchell's attempt to challenge his conviction for murder following the human rights ruling was rejected by the Appeal Court in Edinburgh.
Earlier on Tuesday, he went again to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh to refer its decision to the UK Supreme Court in London but failed.
Two weeks ago, Nat Fraser won his appeal at the Supreme Court to have his conviction quashed.
Fraser, who was jailed after the High Court in Edinburgh heard he ordered a hitman to kill his wife, Arlene, in Elgin in 1998, had exhausted all avenues of appeal in Scotland.
The Supreme Court backed his appeal under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the ground of the Crown's non-disclosure of evidence to the defence.
They sent the case back to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh to be quashed.
The Fraser case has led to a political storm over the role of the UK Supreme Court in Scottish criminal cases.
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