By BRIAN FERRY

bferry@timesobserver.com

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will not hear an appeal in the case of a Warren County man convicted of murder.

On April 6, the court announced its denial of Matthew B. White’s appeal of his life sentence.

“The petition for allowance of appeal is denied,” the legal document said in its one-line order.

White’s attorney, Rob Kinnear, has filed appeals to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Superior Court, and Supreme Court, finding denials at each level.

White was found guilty in May of 2018, of shooting his wife, Jessica White, four times, killing her, on June 21, 2017.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kinnear asked that the conviction be thrown out and that a new trial be held.

In his filings to the Commonwealth and Superior courts, Kinnear made three arguments.

He said statements made to police by one of White’s children should not have been allowed in court without the opportunity for White to face his accuser.

A recording of White asserting his right to remain silent should not have been played in court, Kinnear said.

He also argued that a text message from Jessica White to her mother about the state of the Whites’ relationship should not have been allowed.

The Superior Court judges addressed those arguments.

They said the child’s statement was non-testimonial and taken during an ongoing emergency and was therefore allowable.

The judges said that White’s request at trial, “I would like to see the video” of investigators asking him what happened and White saying he didn’t know, caused the prosecution to play the recording of him asserting his right to remain silent.

A portion of the text message, “It’s been decided. We are getting a divorce and I am pretty sure it’s going to be messy,” was ruled to be hearsay.

However, that hearsay was covered by other “untainted” evidence, and the judges called it a “harmless” error.

None of the appeals courts found cause for a new trial.

The Supreme Court did not address the three issues brought up by Kinnear, simply denying the appeal.