An appeal has been rejected for a Detroit-area man convicted in four Livingston County home invasions.

27-year-old Antoine Lee Scott was sentenced to serve between 19 and 30 years in prison in 2017 after a Livingston County Circuit Court jury found him guilty in the break-ins that targeted funeral-goers. Victims testified that between May and August of 2015, their homes were broken into and items stolen while they attended funerals. Among the items that were stolen were gold, silver and platinum jewelry as well as a gun and a safe. Scott pawned the stolen jewelry in Detroit where a pawn shop owner made a copy of his identification and had him leave a thumb print. Police later matched that evidence with items stolen from the Livingston County homes.

In his appeal, Scott claimed his lawyer was ineffective by not requesting a hearing regarding expert testimony related to a pry bar that was found in his vehicle at the time of his arrest. But the three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected that claim and said that the other evidence of Scott’s guilt was, “overwhelming” and even if the trial court had excluded the pry bar as evidence, “a different result was not reasonably probable. They also rejected his other claims related to evidence as well as his sentencing and affirmed his conviction.

Scott is not eligible for parole until 2036. (JK)