Lawyers for Barton McNeil should not be allowed to introduce evidence to support his claims that his former girlfriend confessed to the murder that put him behind bars for life, the state argues in a motion filed in McNeil’s petition for a new trial.

Barton McNeil was convicted of in the 1998 death of his 3-year-old daughter, Christina. McNeil has denied any involvement in the child’s death. He has urged Bloomington police to investigate his former girlfriend, Misook Nowlin, a woman with a history of violence and child abuse, as a possible suspect.

Bart McNeil's attorneys will get a hearing on the claim that McNeil's former girlfriend confessed to the 1998 killing of McNeil's daughter; the claim was not heard during his bench trial. A judge rejected multiple other defense arguments for new hearings.

The "Does Innocence Matter?" rally focused on decades-long court battles that Jamie Snow and Bart McNeil have fought to have their murder convictions overturned.

Lawyers for Bart McNeil asked a judge on Thursday to approve a full evidentiary hearing on McNeil’s innocence claim in the death of his 3-year-old daughter.

Bart McNeil is entitled to a thorough review of newly-discovered evidence in the death of his 3-year-old daughter, McNeil’s lawyers argued in a new court filing related to his petition for a new trial on murder charges.

Evidence that Christina McNeil was murdered by someone other than her father was challenged on Friday by the state in a motion to dismiss Bart McNeil’s petition for a new trial on charges that he suffocated the 3-year-old.

An amended petition seeking a new trial for Misook Nowlin on murder charges in the 2011 death of her mother-in-law will be filed by mid-May, Nowlin’s lawyer told a judge at a court hearing on Tuesday.