DENVER, CO – A federal appeals court has ruled that a man who admitted to killing his five-year-old daughter on tribal land in Oklahoma cannot appeal his life sentence or withdraw his guilty plea.
According to court documents, Adam Raymond Mason pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. As part of his plea deal, Mason had agreed not to appeal his conviction or sentence. He later tried to back out, arguing that his mental illness made the plea invalid and that his lawyer should not have dropped a request for a mental competency evaluation.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected his claims, saying Mason understood the consequences when he entered the plea. The court noted that he told the judge he was thinking clearly and taking medication that helped him understand what was going on. The judge also made it clear during the hearing that the maximum penalty was life in prison and that the agreement with prosecutors was not binding on the court.
The court ruled that Mason’s appeal was covered by the waiver he had signed, and that there was no evidence of a miscarriage of justice or procedural error. His attempt to challenge the sentence was dismissed.
