Michael Shivers had taken a post conviction relief action case to the Iowa Court of Appeals, which on Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling which denied his claim.

He remains in prison, serving a maximum sentence of 100 years.

Police and prosecutors charged Shivers with firing the opening rounds in a June 16, 2020, early morning shootout in the 900 block of 10th Avenue Southwest.

Testimony during his 2021 trial revealed that Shivers fired a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, touching off what was described as a “volley of bullets.” Jamael Cox, 25, and Tyrone Cunningham, 47, were both killed. Prosecutors called them innocent bystanders caught between Shivers and his associates and another group that was across the street.

Initially, five men were arrested and charged with second degree murder. But the murder charges against everyone but Shivers were eventually dropped.

Shivers was convicted of two counts of second degree murder in October 2021.

In February 2022, Webster County District Court Judge Angela Doyle sentenced him to 50 years in prison for each count of second degree murder, for a total of 100 years.

Shivers appealed his conviction, and lost that case.

He then attempted a post conviction relief action. That is essentially a civil lawsuit aimed at overturning a criminal conviction on the grounds that the defendant’s attorney did not do a good job.

His post conviction relief case was rejected at the Webster County District Court level. He next turned unsuccessfully to the Iowa Court of Appeals.

His case hinged on whether or not he received good advice about testifying during his trial.

“Like the District Court, we find no credible evidence that Shivers was inadequately advised about the consequences of declining to testify,” a panel of appeals court judges wrote in the opinion released Wednesday.

“We agree with the court that Shivers failed to prove defense counsel performed deficiently,” they wrote.