Peltier has consistently maintained his innocence. He and his backers argue that prosecutors never produced anyone who could identify him as the man who fired the fatal shots. But an appeals court found that it didn't matter whether he was the shooter; it was sufficient that he was proven to be an "aider or abettor" in the murders. Peltier's lawyers have also claimed that the FBI fabricated and withheld evidence. Appellate courts have agreed that there were flaws in how the FBI — and prosecutors — handled the case. But those flaws, the courts ruled, weren't significant enough to warrant a new trial. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeals, and requests for parole have also been rejected.