SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court has rejected appeals by Martin Cameron Bond, convicted for his role in the 2009 murder of a BYU professor.
In a ruling handed down Wednesday, the state’s top court rejected each of Bond’s claims in appealing his conviction for the murder of retired BYU professor Kay Mortensen.
Martin Bond is led into the courtroom before being sentenced to life without parole at the Fourth District Court in American Fork Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Bond was found guilty of the murder of Kay Mortensen.
MARK JOHNSTON/Daily Herald
“Mr. Bond has not established that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for mistrial because he has not demonstrated that the prosecutor committed misconduct. Mr. Bond also failed to carry his burden to demonstrate prejudice for his alleged Confrontation Clause violation. Finally, Mr. Bond cannot show that counsel performed deficiently by failing to make a futile motion to merge his convictions. We therefore affirm his conviction,” the court wrote.
Bond was convicted for his role in the murder of Mortensen, who was found tied up and his throat slit inside his Payson home.
Read the Utah Supreme Court’s ruling here:
