GASTONIA, North Carolina — A man convicted of killing a UNC Charlotte student returned to Gaston County Tuesday in his latest effort to have his murder conviction dropped or receive a new trial.
In 2011, a jury convicted Mark Carver of strangling to death Ira Yarmolenko, a 20-year-old student, along the banks of the Catawba River back in 2008.
Tuesday marked the first day of an evidentiary hearing to consider a motion for appropriate relief, filed by Carver's new attorneys at the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence.
Carver's attorney, Chris Mumma, argued Carver did not receive adequate representation from his original defense counsel during his trial.
She said Carver didn't have the physical strength nor the mental capacity to murder Yarmolenko.
"It was a flawed investigation that failed Ira and Mark," Mumma said during her opening statement.
District Attorney Locke Bell, who wants to keep Carver's conviction in place, argued Carver's defense counsel, "...gave him a good trial and met the standard."
The defense called three witnesses to the stand, including Carver's former psychiatrist, who testified, based on his notes, that he and Carver discussed his murder charge.
Mumma highlighted sections of the doctor's notes, which described Carver complaining about his physical pain, while Bell focused on other comments by the doctor, who wrote that Carver was able to function and understand advanced concepts.
Another witness, a psychotherapist who measured Carver's IQ, testified he had a first-grade reading comprehension.
During the hearing, Mumma played a clip of Carver's police interrogation during the murder investigation, and the psychotherapist testified a person with Carver's intelligence could struggle with the types of questions asked by the detective.
However, Bell presented Carver's prison medical records, which stated that he did not exhibit any signs of intellectual disabilities, and Bell noted Carver's history of living and functioning independently.
Court will resume Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
The hearing is expected to last into next week.
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