Weston High School shooting defendant Eric Hainstock should not get a new trial because the jury had more than enough evidence to justify his conviction for first-degree murder in the death of Principal John Klang, a Sauk County judge ruled Monday.

In a written ruling made available to the public Tuesday, Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Taggart made a summary judgment rejecting the arguments of Hainstock's defense attorney, Paul G. Bonneson. Hainstock is now serving a life sentence for Klang's death.

On the morning of Sept. 29, 2006, Hainstock, then 15, entered the school with a shotgun and a .22-caliber revolver. A school janitor wrested the shotgun from him, but he continued into the school. In a corridor Hainstock met Klang, who tried to talk to him, then grappled with him and pinned him to the floor.

During the struggle, shots from Hainstock's gun hit Klang three times and he died later that day at University Hospital in Madison.

Hainstock was taken to the Sauk County Law Enforcement Center in Baraboo where he was interviewed by a Sheriff's Department detective and state criminal investigator several hours after the shooting.

Hainstock waived his right not to speak and said he fired three shots at Klang intentionally, according to a video recording of the interrogation shown during the trial in the summer of 2007. Hainstock said he was trying to force school officials to stop teasing and abusive behavior by other students.

In his written appeal, the defense attorney says a psychologist will testify Hainstock was not competent to waive his right to remain silent. Bonneson also argued Hainstock did not receive adequate legal council when his public defenders did not seek to prevent his statements to investigators being used in court.

During his trial testimony, Hainstock said the first shot from the gun was accidental; the second shot was only intended to injure Klang's arm and force him off Hainstock; and he was uncertain whether the third was intentional or not, Bonneson states.

If the jury did not hear his statement to investigators the day of the shooting, they might have convicted Hainstock of a lesser charge, Bonneson argued when the appeal was filed in August.

In his ruling, Judge Taggart disputes the defense contention Hainstock's statement to investigators was so important in his conviction for first-degree murder. He argues the jury had many other pieces of evidence that support the conclusion Hainstock wanted to kill Klang.

"There is the physical evidence of the multiple shots delivered in close contact to the victim," he writes. "Hainstock's statements to others that Klang would not live to see homecoming (that evening), defendant's statements to the janitor that he was there with two weapons to "(expletive) kill someone."

Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett said she was not surprised the judge agreed with her opposition to Hainstock's appeal

"It's what I expected," she said.

The defense team's next step would be to take the case to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, she said. If that happens, the Wisconsin attorney general is responsible for handling the case, not her, Barrett said.

"I don't have any comment," was Bonneson's only response when the News Republic contacted him via phone at his office in Wauwatosa.

He would not say if he planned to take the case to the appeals court.

Hainstock, now 17, of rural La Valle, can apply for supervised release from prison no earlier than 30 years after his conviction.