Michigan Supreme Court Denies Appeal of Man Who Killed Poker Player Susie Zhao

Warning: The next article discusses homicide and sexual assault.

The person convicted in 2022 for the grotesque homicide of poker participant and commentator Susie Zhao was denied an attraction by the Michigan Supreme Court docket.

The transfer from Michigan’s highest court docket, first reported by poker journalist Haley Hintze, places an finish to the authorized recourse obtainable to Jeffery Bernard Morris, who was convicted of first-degree premeditated homicide in October 2022 and sentenced to life in jail with out the opportunity of parole.

No Enchantment for Poker Participant’s Killer

In July 2020, Morris brutally murdered 33-year-old Zhao, an everyday within the Los Angeles poker scene who had moved to Michigan to reside with household in the course of the pandemic. He was sentenced to life in jail in 2022 after what Michigan Decide Martha Anderson known as an “agonizing” trial.

After his conviction, Morris filed a post-conviction movement, arguing a speedy-trial challenge, and likewise filed an attraction with the Michigan Court docket of Appeals.

In his attraction, Morris argued that “his proper to a speedy trial was violated” and that “his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to identification testimony, opinion testimony about shoplifting ways, and speedy-trial points.”

Morris additional argued that “he’s entitled to a brand new trial on the premise of the cumulative impact of the previous errors.” The Michigan Court docket of Appeals disagreed with Morris and affirmed his conviction in a March determination.

“Morris has failed to ascertain that any errors of consequence occurred. Subsequently, reversal of his conviction resulting from cumulative error is just not warranted,” the appeals court docket wrote.

In a closing attraction effort, Morris requested the Michigan Supreme Court docket to take up the case, which they declined to do on Aug. 29 “as a result of we’re not persuaded that the questions offered needs to be reviewed by this Court docket.”

Zhao was an everyday on money sport streams like “Reside on the Bike” and had $224,671 in Hendon Mob earnings, together with a number of deep runs within the World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) Important Occasion.

Morris’ 2022 trial revealed disturbing particulars in regards to the homicide and sexual assault case and provided perception into Zhao’s wrestle with psychological sickness, together with being identified with schizophrenia.

Connor Richards is a Senior Editor U.S. for PokerNews and host of the Life Outdoors Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for 3 International Poker Awards for his writing.