Ronald Gasser, who shot and killed former NFL player Joe McKnight in 2016, lost an appeal of his murder conviction and will remain behind bars.
Gasser admitted shooting and killing McKnight but claimed his actions were justified under Louisiana’s “Shoot the Intruder” law. Gasser said McKnight tried to enter his vehicle after the two had a traffic dispute, but an appeals court ruled that the jury was correct in finding that McKnight only approached the car and did not enter.
A law professor who represented Gasser for free said that prosecutors should not have been allowed to introduce evidence that Gasser had previously been arrested in another road rage incident, but the appeals court disagreed.
Gasser was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
McKnight was a fourth-round pick of the Jets in 2010 who spent three years there and also played for the Chiefs. He played in the Canadian Football League before he was killed on December 1, 2016.