MERCER Court denies appeal of earlier conviction

The convicted killer said the prosecution was guilty of misconduct in the case.
MERCER, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Superior Court has denied Ronald L. Fuller's appeal of his March 31, 2000, murder conviction and subsequent sentence of life imprisonment.
The appeals court ruled that Fuller and his defense counsel failed to raise required objections during his trial and can't bring up new issues now.
The ruling, issued earlier this week, means that Fuller, 25, of Emerson Avenue, Farrell, must continue to serve life in prison for first-degree murder and concurrent sentences of 10 to 20 years for burglary, 21/2 to 5 years for possession of prohibited offensive weapons and 21/2 to 5 years for possession of an instrument of crime.
Conviction: Fuller was convicted by a jury in Mercer County Common Pleas Court in March 2000 of the shotgun slaying of Jeremy Farrand, 13, on May 29, 1999.
Farrand was gunned down inside his home on Prindle Street in Sharon. Authorities said Fuller was looking for another person believed to be staying at the house but shot Farrand, who was the first person he saw in the home.
Fuller's appeal said the district attorney's office was guilty of prosecutorial misconduct by presenting the testimony of two witnesses, Larry Manning and Regina Campbell, who was Fuller's girlfriend, knowing that their testimony was false and then by vouching for them during closing arguments.
The appeal also maintained the trial court erred in failing to give the jury information on accomplice liability even though the defense had raised the issue of accomplice liability in its closing argument.
Court ruling: The appeals court ruled that Fuller's defense counsel failed to object to the testimony of Campbell and Manning during the trial nor was there any objection raised to the trial court's decision not to charge the jury on the matter of accomplice liability.
Because there were no objections made during the trial, those issues can't be raised now, the appeals court said, affirming the results of the trial and sentencing courts.