LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man sentenced to life in prison for the beating death of his toddler has had his request to be released from prison denied.

Germai Molina filed a petition last year in Lincoln’s U.S. District Court for habeas corpus. He claimed his constitutional rights were violated when he was not allowed to show a 6 1/2-hour taped interview of his ex-wife to the jury, among other things. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom denied the petition, ruling that Molina filed the petition too late.

Molina’s plea for relief came after being twice rejected on appeal by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Molina was convicted in 2004 of second-degree murder and felony child abuse in Grand Island for the 2003 beating death of his 2-year-old daughter, Diana Molina.