ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Attorneys for a Little Falls man convicted of killing two teenagers who broke into his home contend he didn’t get a fair trial.

The Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in the appeal of 67-year-old Byron Smith. Smith shot and killed 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady on Thanksgiving Day in 2012.

A jury convicted Smith last year of first-degree premeditated murder. A judge sentenced him to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

The Star Tribune reports the justices focused on a brief closure of the courtroom during Smith’s trial.

Defense attorney Steven Meshbesher argued Smith did not get a fair trial, and the "only way to fix it is to grant him a new trial."

But prosecutors argued the brief courtroom closure had no impact.