State Supreme Court to hear appeal of man convicted in college student's death

GASTONIA, N.C. — It took four years to convict a man after the death of a UNC Charlotte student, but the case still isn't over for her family.

The attorney for the man convicted in her death is going to the state Supreme Court.

From the beginning, Mark Carver said he was not guilty of murdering Ira Yarmolenko.

“There ain't no way I done it,” he said.

On Tuesday, his appeals attorney will try to convince the state Supreme Court to overturn his conviction and life sentence.

Brent Ratchford, one of Carver's defense attorneys during the murder trial, said the jury should have never been allowed to deliberate.

“There is no proof that he committed a murder,” he said.

But the judge overruled his motion to dismiss, and jurors found Carver guilty in an emotional trial that captured national attention.

In 2008, Yarmolenko's body was found next to her car on the banks of the Catawba River in Mount Holly.

Carver and his cousin, Neal Cassada, were fishing nearby. Both were charged with strangling the college student.

Cassada died of a heart attack the day before his trial.

Carver's DNA was found outside of the car, but not inside and not on the items used to strangle her.

“Those circumstances are so tenuous that a jury should not have been allowed to make a decision on those small facts,” Ratchford said.

If the Supreme Court agrees, Carver's conviction will be overturned.

Eyewitness News spoke to Yarmolenko's brother by phone on Monday.

“I certainly hope that that is not a possibility,” Pavel Yarmolenko said.

He said he believes the jury convicted the right man.

“It's fitting that if you murder somebody, you go to jail for the rest of your life,” Pavel Yarmolenko said.

But Carver's attorney said one judge of the three appeals court judges that heard the case agrees with the defense.

Carver will not be allowed before the Supreme Court to hear his attorney argue for him.  The justices will have the chance to publicly question the defense attorney about his case before they adjourn to make a decision.

WSOC