A hearing was held in Carbon County court on yet another petition for appeal from a murder conviction that dates back to 1999.

Judge Steven R. Serfass heard argument on a post conviction hearing act petition filed by Myles Ramzee, 40, of Brooklyn, New York, one of four convicted of the 1997 murder of Tyrone Hill in an apartment in Palmerton.Ramzee and fellow Brooklyn residents Kaquwan Milligan, Dennis Boney and Cetewayo Frails were convicted by juries of the murder, and all were sentenced to life without parole by presiding Judge Richard W. Webb.Police said Ramzee was the one who fired the fatal shot that killed Hill. He was tried separately while the other three were tried together.The case has cost the taxpayers of Carbon County more than $100,000 because of the various appeals filed by the four defendants. All of the appeals filed to date have been rejected by the courts.This is the sixth PCHA petition Ramzee has filed. The five previous ones have all been denied by either a county judge or the state Superior Court. Ramzee also filed an appeal of his life sentence in federal court, which also was denied.Ramzee, through new court-appointed attorney Michael P. Gough, is claiming that his legal counsel at his trial, held in 1999, was ineffective. His court-appointed attorneys for the trial were Kent Watkins and Michael Muffley. In 2001 he filed an appeal claiming ineffectiveness of counsel. Attorney Robert Buttner was appointed to handle that appeal. The appeal was eventually denied by the county court and state court.Ramzee is now claiming Buttner was also ineffective.Gough said at the hearing concerning the claims of ineffectiveness of counsel held in June 2001, Buttner never called Watkins or Muffley as witnesses. He said the two were the reason for the petition and should have been called by Buttner. Gough said Ramzee is entitled to a hearing on the ineffectiveness of Watkins, Muffley and Buttner.District attorney Gary F. Dobias prosecuted the case. Dobias, who retired as full-time DA, represented the commonwealth at the hearing as a unpaid assistant DA.Dobias said all the matters raised in the new PCHA filed by Ramzee were previously heard by the court and were denied.He also argued that following the June 2001 hearing and resulting court ruling denying the appeal, Ramzee did not file another petition until 2012. He said the new appeal is not timely, in fact, Ramzee had a year after the 2001 hearing to file an appeal according to rules of court, but never did until 2012.Serfass took the matter under advisement. He said he must first decide if he has jurisdiction in the case. He said if he finds he does, then he must decide if Ramzee has a right to a further hearing on the allegations of ineffective counsel.Serfass did not indicate when he would rule in the matter.