DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say a man convicted of killing his girlfriend can’t use allegations of juror bullying as grounds for a new trial. The Telegraph Herald reports that assistant Dubuque County Attorney Brigit Barnes made the argument in his response to Fontae Buelow’s motion for a new trial.

Buelow’s attorneys claim that a juror who did not believe Buelow was guilty of murder was bullied by two other jurors. They say the juror was then improperly removed by the judge during deliberations and replaced with an alternate.

But the two accused jurors reported to the judge that the removed juror had refused to participate in deliberations and that he had entered the jury room declaring his mind was made up.

Buelow was convicted in January of second-degree murder in the March 2017 death of 21-year-old Samantha Link. Prosecutors say Buelow stabbed Link multiple times, but Buelow maintained that Link stabbed herself.