WELLINGTON ¨C New Zealand¡¯s Court of Appeal on Thursday denied convicted Christchurch ?mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant¡¯s bid to appeal his convictions, ruling his attempt to overturn guilty pleas for the country¡¯s deadliest mass shooting as ¡°utterly devoid of merit.¡±
Tarrant, an Australian national, pleaded guilty on March 26, 2020, ?to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of ?attempted murder ?and one charge of committing a terrorist attack ?over the 2019 shootings at two Christchurch mosques. He was sentenced that August to life imprisonment without parole.
The court said Tarrant ?filed his appeal in November 2022?¡ª 505 working days late. His lawyers argued ?at a February hearing that his guilty pleas were not voluntary and resulted from prison conditions that allegedly ?affected his mental state.
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