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Mass. Court Denies Harvard Slaying Appeal

The highest court in Massachusetts has rejected the appeal of a New York City man who was convicted of killing another man during a drug deal inside a Harvard University dormitory.

The Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday rejected several arguments brought up on appeal by Jabrai Jordan Copney, including that improper instructions were given to jurors at trial and that the trial judge allowed evidence of Copney's prior bad behavior.

The SJC said there's "no reason for us to reduce the degree of guilt or order a new trial."

Copney was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 2009 shooting of Cambridge resident Justin Cosby.

Copney and two others lured Cosby to the dorm, where Copney shot him when he refused to hand over marijuana. None of the men attended Harvard.

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