A judge has declined to downgrade the conviction of Cara Rintala, the Granby, Massachusetts, woman was convicted this year of first-degree murder of her wife after two previous trials ended with hung juries.

Rintala’s attorney, David Hoose, argued a second-degree murder or manslaughter conviction would have been more appropriate, in part, because he said the alleged crime was not premeditated. Judge Mary-Lou Rup denied the motion.

First-degree murder in Massachusetts carries a mandatory life sentence without parole. The case also is automatically reviewed by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. Hoose said he hopes the SJC sees it his way.

“In other words, to just look at the whole case and say, ‘You know what? Even if it’s technically first-degree murder, really the result here that is more consonant with justice is second-degree murder or manslaughter,'” Hoose said Friday.

Rintala is accused of strangling her wife Annamarie in the couple’s home in 2010.