The Mississippi Court of Appeals has upheld the verdict of a Warren County man convicted in March 2016 of beating an older woman and robbing her in 2014.

The court voted 8-0 to let stand the March 25, 2016, conviction of Bryan Morton, 35, for attempted murder, armed robbery and burglary of a dwelling. Morton was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison on the charges.

Morton’s co-defendant in the case, Kimberly Chapman, testified against him at the trial. She pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to attempted murder, armed robbery, and burglary charges, and was sentenced to 20 years.

“I’m glad the verdict was affirmed,” Warren County District Attorney Ricky Smith said. “This was the first trial in the state under the revised attempted murder statute that was passed in 2014. “Anytime you have a new statute, you hope you filed everything properly with the grand jury. We were very interested in seeing how the court would rule, and very happy they upheld the verdict at the trial. I’m also happy for Mrs. (Charlie) Arnold, because she will not have to undergo the pain of another trial.”

Morton and Chapman in May 2014 broke into Arnold’s home in the 3600 block of Warriors Trial and took money, a wedding ring and a purse. Arnold, who was awake in the home, realized someone was there and recognized Chapman. At that point, the duo began to repeatedly beat Arnold in the head with a metal walking cane and a knife.

The couple were arrested by Warren County sheriff’s deputies and later indicted on the charges.

In his appeal, Morton claimed the indictment against him was insufficient, that Judge Isadore Patrick failed to properly instruct the jury on the attempted murder and armed robbery charges, and claimed ineffective counsel.

He also said the court erred by allowing testimony about previous criminal acts, allowing “opinion testimony,” and claimed his attorney did not challenge the validity of the search warrant, claiming evidence recovered during the search should have been excluded at the trial.

The justices ruled the claims had no merit. They did not address the ineffective assistance of counsel claim, however, saying Morton could address the issue in a motion for post-conviction relief.