MONROE - Green County Circuit Court Judge James Beer Wednesday denied a motion for a new trial for a Monticello woman convicted of murder in 2006. The motion was filed on behalf of Mary Sidoff on May 15.
Sidoff didn't appear at the hearing.
Her attorney, William Schmaal, said the jury in Sidoff's trial was given erroneous instructions and the facts of the case were not argued properly.
Beer, in a written statement, said the court didn't err when it gave instructions to the jury. He said the facts of the case were correctly argued before the jury.
In his ruling, Beer said Sidoff's trial attorney, Roger Merry, didn't err in his effort to try for an acquittal rather than risk conviction of first-degree intentional homicide.
"This court is satisfied that defense counsel's actual representation was well within the range of objectively reasonable representation," Beer wrote.
Sidoff could appeal Beer's decision with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Schmaal was not available for comment after the hearing.
At a May 15 hearing, Schmaal said the jury should have been told it could consider the charge of homicide by negligent use of a weapon, which means that Sidoff accidentally killed Ardelle Sturzenegger, 88, Janesville, in October 2005.
A lesser penalty would have meant Sidoff would spend a considerably less amount of time in prison, between 10 and 12 years.
Sidoff, 26, was sentenced to life in prison in November 2006 for first-degree intentional homicide. She's eligible for parole in 44 years.
In addition to the mandatory life sentence for first degree intentional murder, Sidoff also received concurrent 10-year sentences for theft and hiding a corpse - five years each will be served during Sidoff's initial incarceration and the remaining five years will each be under extended supervision.
Merry testified at the May hearing that evidence didn't suggest an accidental shooting and it was his opinion to try to show Sidoff wasn't involved with the murder at all.
Authorities said Sidoff lured Sturzenegger to the rural Monticello farmhouse she rented with her husband, David, on Oct. 11, 2005. Once there, Sidoff shot Sturzenegger once in the back of the head with a .40-caliber handgun and hid the body in a nearby horse pasture.
Sidoff didn't appear at the hearing.
Her attorney, William Schmaal, said the jury in Sidoff's trial was given erroneous instructions and the facts of the case were not argued properly.
Beer, in a written statement, said the court didn't err when it gave instructions to the jury. He said the facts of the case were correctly argued before the jury.
In his ruling, Beer said Sidoff's trial attorney, Roger Merry, didn't err in his effort to try for an acquittal rather than risk conviction of first-degree intentional homicide.
"This court is satisfied that defense counsel's actual representation was well within the range of objectively reasonable representation," Beer wrote.
Sidoff could appeal Beer's decision with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Schmaal was not available for comment after the hearing.
At a May 15 hearing, Schmaal said the jury should have been told it could consider the charge of homicide by negligent use of a weapon, which means that Sidoff accidentally killed Ardelle Sturzenegger, 88, Janesville, in October 2005.
A lesser penalty would have meant Sidoff would spend a considerably less amount of time in prison, between 10 and 12 years.
Sidoff, 26, was sentenced to life in prison in November 2006 for first-degree intentional homicide. She's eligible for parole in 44 years.
In addition to the mandatory life sentence for first degree intentional murder, Sidoff also received concurrent 10-year sentences for theft and hiding a corpse - five years each will be served during Sidoff's initial incarceration and the remaining five years will each be under extended supervision.
Merry testified at the May hearing that evidence didn't suggest an accidental shooting and it was his opinion to try to show Sidoff wasn't involved with the murder at all.
Authorities said Sidoff lured Sturzenegger to the rural Monticello farmhouse she rented with her husband, David, on Oct. 11, 2005. Once there, Sidoff shot Sturzenegger once in the back of the head with a .40-caliber handgun and hid the body in a nearby horse pasture.