Visiting Judge Janet R. Burnside has dismissed the latest effort by James Worley to overturn his conviction and death sentence in the 2016 murder of Sierah Joughin.
The ruling, dated March 26 in Fulton County Court Common Pleas Court, dismisses Worley’s third amended petition for post-conviction relief.
Worley sought to challenge his conviction by arguing that his trial attorneys were ineffective in several areas, including how they handled forensic evidence and DNA testing.
His legal team claimed more advanced testing methods available at the time could have produced additional results and potentially supported an alternate suspect theory. The court, however, found that those arguments did not present enough new evidence to warrant relief.
In its decision, the court said many of Worley’s claims were either barred because they could have been raised earlier or failed to show that the outcome of the trial would likely have been different.
The case stems from July 2016, when Joughin disappeared while riding her bicycle. Her body was later found buried in a cornfield near Worley’s property. He was convicted in 2018 on multiple charges, including aggravated murder, and was sentenced to death.
With the latest petition now dismissed, Worley remains on death row. No execution date has been set.