Lee County, Ga. (WALB) - Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court denied Yathomas Riley’s claims that a trial court erred in his case. Yathomas was a former pro boxer who was convicted of murdering his wife, Dr. Lisa Marie Riley, in July of 2015 in Lee County.

Lisa was an emergency room doctor at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany at the time of her death. Yathomas claimed that Lisa shot herself, but Yathomas would go on to be tried and convicted for the July 2015 death of his wife, and for another incident the month before, where he was arrested for threatening to kill Lisa with a gun.

On July 1, 2016, Riley was sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for malice murder, consecutive 20-year prison terms for one count of aggravated assault of Lisa on June 14, 2015 and for cruelty to children, and concurrent 20-year prison terms for two counts of aggravated assault of Lisa on June 14 and for aggravated assault by family violence.

Representing himself, Yathomas appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, claiming that the trial court erred in his case because:

• The court allowed the lead investigator to remain in the courtroom during the trial
• The court allowed allegedly false or inaccurate evidence about the home security system to be presented to the grand jury and at trial
• His trial counsel provided ineffective assistance and conceded his guilt by implying that he was mentally impaired due to boxing injuries to the head

The Georgia Supreme Court disputed each of Yathomas’s claims and denied his appeal, upholding his murder conviction and sentence.

You can read the full Supreme Court opinion here:

WALB covered Yathomas Riley’s trial, and reported on an incident involving him and an ex-girlfriend in Florida. Charges in that case against him were dropped. You can read that previous coverage here:

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