The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man serving life in prison for the 1990 murder of Joel Battaglia.
Battaglia was walking home in the city's Eastown neighborhood when he was attacked on the sidewalk along Lake Drive.
The case went unsolved for more than two decades until investigators announced the arrest of Aurelius Marshall in December 2014. Marshall has been a familiar name to investigators, but it wasn't until the cold case was reopened that the pieces fell together.
Police say Battaglia was killed during a robbery.
Marshall challenged his conviction on several fronts, saying the judge's instructions to jurors were "coercive.''
However, the Court of Appeals upheld his conviction in court today. Marshall is serving a life sentence at a state prison in Ionia.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.