The Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the 2004 first-degree murder conviction of Peggy Tolan, a Dartmouth woman serving a life sentence for shooting her husband in his sleep.

In its ruling Tuesday, the high court rejected Tolan's arguments that her conviction should have been thrown out because of ineffective legal counsel and that her statements to police should have been suppressed.

Tolan, 38, also appealed her conviction on grounds that the judge who presided over her trial, Richard J. Chin, prejudiced the jury against her and that he should have instructed jurors to consider a manslaughter charge.

The high court rejected those arguments, ruling that Tolan freely gave her statements to police detectives, who twice reminded the defendant of her Miranda rights during her interview.

The court, which last year also denied Tolan's motion for a new trial, said Tolan was given sound legal representation and that Judge Chin competently presided over the trial.

Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, commended the court's ruling.

"Appeals Unit Assistant District Attorneys Shoshana Stern and Rachel Eisenhaure deserve a tremendous amount of praise for their hard work on this complex case," Miliote said.

"Today's ruling assures that Ms. Tolan will continue to be punished for the horrendous crime of murder she committed."

On the morning of Dec. 3, 2002, 43-year-old Edward Tolan was found lying in bed, dead from a .38-caliber gunshot wound to the head. Tolan had been shot at close range, approximately 2 to 6 inches from his jaw.

The gun was in Tolan's hands. His wife claimed she accidentally shot him after finding him in bed with the gun in his hand. She told police she tried to take the gun out of her husband's hand when the weapon discharged.

Police said she put the gun in her husband's hand, with his finger on the trigger, in an attempt to simulate a suicide. There were several discrepancies in her statements to police.

According to witness testimony during the trial, the couple had a troubled marriage that included problems with alcoholism, depression and a foreclosure on their house.

Evidence was also presented during pretrial proceedings on the couple's sexual practices, which included statements that they engaged in bondage, dabbled in pornography and that Edward Tolan had offered his wife for sex over the Internet.