Northern Arapaho man loses bid to appeal ruling in infant death case

A Northern Arapaho man has lost another bid to challenge his conviction in the beating death of his infant daughter.

Andrew John Yellowbear Jr. is serving a life sentence in the death of 22-month-old Marcela Hope Yellowbear in 2004.

He had argued Wyoming lacked authority to prosecute him because the area of Riverton where Marcela died was legally part of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year declined to consider that argument.

Yellowbear then argued he was entitled to relief because a judge fell asleep during a hearing on his appeal, but the U.S. District Court in Wyoming ruled his jurisdictional argument already was fully considered.

This week, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied him a chance to appeal the district court decision.