A man convicted of killing his roommate with a ball bat requested that more of the DNA on the weapon be tested in hopes of exonerating himself, but a judge has denied him.

Kenneth Eugene Carter, 51, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ron Fortner, 51, and the malicious wounding of another Buehring Avenue roommate, Brady Dunlap, 61.

His first trial in March ended in a hung jury, but a second jury in May found him guilty.

He is serving a life sentence without a chance for parole.

On Tuesday, Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky denied Carter's motion to have 20 swabs taken by police from the ball bat tested for DNA. Prosecutors objected and said any information from further testing would be "confusing and not relevant."

Charles Hamilton, Carter's court-appointed public defense attorney, has appealed his murder conviction to the state Supreme Court. He claims the state was negligent when a lab tested only six of those 26 swabs.

Hamilton said, "We have this evidence that is sitting there at the State Police lab. I think it is

pretty obvious and significant that there could be another person's DNA and he's entitled to another testing."

Hamilton said he and co-counsel David Dawson originally believed that only six of the 26 samples were tested because the rest weren't viable. He said they discovered more recently that wasn't true.

"The idea of the perpetrator of the crime was a significant issue in this case," Hamilton said. "Who wielded that bat? Kenny Carter has maintained his innocence from day one."

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DNA test denied for man convicted in fatal beating