WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge refused to grant a new trial for a former escort convicted of trying to hire a hit man to murder her newlywed husband.
Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley rejected during a Friday hearing the new trial motion filed by Dalia Dippolito’s attorneys. They had argued that Kelley should throw out last month’s guilty verdict, accusing one juror of sleeping during the trial. Kelley said he had watched the juror and saw no evidence that she had dozed off.
The 34-year-old Dippolito faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced next week on her solicitation of first-degree murder conviction. Jurors found her guilty of trying to hire an undercover detective to kill Michael Dippolito in 2009. The case gained fame through TV and internet exposure.