The appeal of the Kevin Monahan murder conviction took a step forward on Thursday as his defense team has retained the lawyer who will handle the appeal.

NewsChannel 13 has learned that Albany criminal defense attorney Matthew Hug has been hired to appeal the conviction.

A jury found Monahan guilty of murder in the shooting death of Kaylin Gillis. She was a passenger in a vehicle that had mistakenly driven up his driveway in Hebron.

Monahan was sentenced last Friday to 26 1/3 years to up to life in prison.

His appeal will likely center around what the jury was allowed to see and hear after Monahan told police he wanted a lawyer. The jury heard recordings of Monahan telling police and dispatchers that nothing happened the night of the deadly shooting and that he had been asleep.

It will likely take several months before Hug files the appeal.

Hug is also handling the appeal in another high-profile case. The Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office has hired him to handle the appeal of the dismissal of the attempted murder indictment against Vito Caselnova related to the shootout in downtown Saratoga Springs in November 2022.