Felker's defense filed numerous appeals after his trial. Lower courts upheld his conviction, including the US Appeals Court of the 11th Circuit in May 1996. The US Supreme Court denied certiorari in 1985 and 1996. Felker's appeal in May 1996 to the US Supreme Court was considered a test of the new Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), which had been signed in April 1996. Using a key provision of the law, the US Supreme Court rejected his petition for habeas corpus in June 1996 by saying that he had not established new evidence to be considered in his second habeas corpus appeal.
