REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- A man was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday after his second trial for killing the daughter of former Oakland Raiders star Fred Biletnikoff in 1999.
Prosecutors said Mohammed Haroon Ali, 36, strangled Tracey Biletnikoff, then his girlfriend, at a drug and alcohol treatment center during a fight over whether Ali had relapsed.
Ali acknowledged strangling the 20-year-old woman with his hands and a T-shirt, but said he didn't intend to.
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Defense attorney Peter Goldscheider had argued for an involuntary manslaughter conviction instead of murder, saying the killing was done in a fury of emotions.
Ali previously was convicted of murder in the death of Biletnikoff, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that verdict in 2009, ruling that prosecutors improperly dismissed the jury pool's only two black members because of their race.
Ali could face life in prison when he's sentenced on June 14.
The reading of Thursday's verdict was attended by Fred Biletnikoff and his family, who said they were satisfied with the outcome despite the difficulty of going through a second murder trial.
"Tracey's not coming back," said the NFL Hall of Famer, who played with the Raiders from 1965 to 1978. "But he's prevented from being out in society and doing this to somebody else's daughter."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
