NEWARK -- One of the six convicted Newark schoolyard killers had his latest appeal challenging the guilty verdict against him denied.

Jose Carranza, one of the six men convicted in the 2007 execution-style slayings of three friends in a Newark schoolyard, had appealed a 2014 decision denying his bid to overturn his conviction in the killings.

The appeals court ruling released Monday, however, found no errors that warranted revisiting the case.

Carranza had petitioned the court for post-conviction relief, saying he received ineffective legal counsel during his trial.

Carranza argued his former attoreny coerced him not to testify at his own trial, and used family members to pressure him to change his initial decision to testify, the document states. Carranza also said his attorney failed to properly prepare for trial because he did not use an interpreter when meeting with Carranza, who is an undocumented immigrant from Peru.

The appellate judges wrote they agreed with Superior Court Judge Michael Ravin, who ruled in 2014 to deny Carranza's petition and found the latest arguments were without merit.

Carranza has admitted he was at the schoolyard on the day of the killings, but has maintained his innocence in the murders of Iofemi Hightower, 20, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18, behind the Mount Vernon School in Newark.

He was convicted in February 2012 of felony murder and armed robbery charges, but acquitted of murder, sexual assault and lesser offenses.

Carranza is serving a 155-year sentence.

Last month, Ravin also denied a petition for post-conviction relief from Alexander Alfaro, another of the six men convicted in the schoolyard slayings.

Alfaro also argued his lawyers failed him at trial. In 2016, another of the defendants, Rodolfo Godinez, was denied a bid for a new trial.

Authorities have said the killings were gang related.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.