Beth Ann Carpenter, who is serving life without the possibility of parole for her role in the 1994 murder-for-hire of Anson "Buzz" Clinton in East Lyme, lost her bid for a new trial Tuesday after a judge rejected her claims that she did not receive adequate representation.

Carpenter, 51, maintains her innocence, and having exhausted her criminal appeals, sought relief through a Writ of Habeas Corpus, a civil proceeding that is sometimes referred to as an appeal of last resort.

She initiated her petition in January 2013, and testimony was heard last year before Superior Court Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza.

Carpenter made several claims against her attorneys, Hugh Keefe and Tara Knight.

She said they failed to preserve for appeal the trial court's denial of her request for a change of venue; failed to advise her on considering a plea deal; and failed to lay a proper foundation of expert testimony with regard to the existence and effect of a codependency relationship between her and Haiman Clein.

Testimony at Carpenter's trial revealed that she had hatched a plan to have Clinton, her brother-in-law, killed because she thought he was abusing his daughter, who is her niece.

Carpenter's lover, Clein, arranged for one of his clients, Mark Despres, to shoot Clinton. Despres lured Clinton to the Rocky Neck connector to Interstate 95 under the guise of selling him a car and then shot him.

Clein and Despres pleaded guilty in the murder-for-hire plot and are incarcerated.

Carpenter was convicted of capital felony in 2002.

In his decision, Sferrazza said that the U.S. Supreme Court has adopted a two-prong test for evaluating ineffective assistance claims.

The test requires that the petitioner demonstrate by the preponderance of evidence that, first, her attorney's performance was substandard and, second, that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different if adequate representation were received.

Sferrazza said Keefe made numerous efforts to get a new venue for Carpenter's trial and that she failed to prove otherwise.

Sferrazza also said that Carpenter failed to prove that her attorneys didn't advise her on negotiating a plea deal. During the habeas corpus proceedings, Keefe testified that Carpenter was never interested in negotiating a deal while her case was pending.

Sferrazza noted that on Nov. 29, 2001, Carpenter signed a statement that said, "That I am not interested in any plea bargain or plea disposition and I have instructed Attorneys Keefe and Knight not to engage the prosecution in any such discussions. In fact, I have told them that even if offered a sentence of five years in prison, I would not take it."

"Defense counsel cannot be faulted for adhering to their client's strong desire to seek vindication through a jury trial rather than accept even a minimal term of imprisonment in exchange for admitting guilt," he wrote.

During the trial Keefe and Knight attempted to introduce the testimony of Dr. Robert Novelly, a psychologist, to enlighten the jury on why Carpenter remained with Clein even when she discovered his role in the murder-for-hire plot.

Carpenter claimed that she suffers from a dependent personality disorder that left her powerless in her relationship with Clein.

The trial judge, however, did not allow the jury to hear Novelly's testimony, noting the defense did not introduce evidence that either Clein or Carpenter was diagnosed with personality defects that fostered codependency.

"Although defense counsels' appraisal of what level of foundation evidence was sufficient to persuade the trial judge to admit Doctor Novelly's testimony proved wrong, that error was not the result of neglect, lack of preparation, or lack of profession diligence," he wrote. "Defense counsel properly studied the new legal terrain but choose the wrong path to reach the goal of having Doctor Novelly's testimony reach the jury."

He also noted that even if Novelly were allowed to testify, the jury heard testimony from credible witnesses, including from Carpenter's ex-boyfriend, Joseph Jebran. At trial Jebran testified that Carpenter asked him to kidnap her niece and became angry when he refused.

Carpenter's lawyer, Norman A. Pattis, said he plans to appeal to federal court.

The victim's family said justice had prevailed.

"I think the Clinton family as a whole is satisfied with the decision and feels that justice has yet again prevailed in this case," said Suzanne Clinton Krach, sister of victim Anson "Buzz" Clinton, in a phone interview Wednesday. "The habeas corpus process is to protect the rights of prisoners, but I feel at times it's an inconvenience to the families who have to take time off to attend the proceedings.

Several members of the Clinton and Carpenter families had attended the habeas trial, including Rebecca Carpenter, the now-adult woman who was the subject of a custody dispute that led to the murder, and Clinton's daughter, Briana Clinton Mahoney, who was just eight months old when her father was killed. They could not immediately reached to comment.

Buzz Clinton's father, Anson "Buck" Clinton Jr., who is visiting his children in Connecticut this week, said in a phone interview that he had followed the habeas trial from his home in Arizona. Buzz Clinton would have been 49 this year, and his father said he thinks of him daily.

"You just put your faith in the system, and I think the system has worked again," Mr. Clinton said. "I think Beth just has to come to terms with her actions and figure out what promoted her actions. It's not a happy moment for myself seeing somebody in prison, but in a situation like this, when the entire action of murder could have been prevented, one has to assume responsibility for their participation."

i.larraneta@theday.com

Twitter: @larraneta

Day Staff Writer Karen Florin also contributed to this story.