He anticipates lawyers will file the appeal as court procedures dictate, likely several months after sentencing. They will base it in part on "a number of procedural issues that we just think were not addressed properly that need to be looked at by the (Montana) Supreme Court."

"We're still analyzing those kinds of things. Obviously, it's pretty raw and fresh for us today," Ryan said.

As the attorneys left a packed courthouse, Smith walked with his arm around Kaarma’s mother.

Defense lawyers presented a relatively short case. They called only a few witnesses and rested after a couple of days.

A variety of decisions – both strategic ones by the team and decisions by the court – led to the defense's presentation, Ryan said Wednesday.

Once the lawyers digested the outcome, he said, they would take time later to review their case to see where it may have fallen short.

"That's stuff we'll have to analyze and look at. We're still just dealing with the result right now," Ryan said. "We're just very disappointed, but we'll continue to fight."

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