Attorney seeks extension to file Brad Cooper appeal

Brad Cooper was found guilty May 5 of first-degree murder in the July 12, 2008, death of Nancy Cooper, whose body was found in an undeveloped subdivision several miles from their home.

Ann Peterson, an appellate attorney for Cooper, says in a motion filed Tuesday that the transcripts from the nearly two-month long trial were originally due on July 12, 2011, but that there several delays and she did not receive the 8,800-page file until Feb. 10.

Peterson wants 30 days past the April 11 deadline to appeal because she needs more time to read and review the transcripts.

One possible ground for appeal is likely to center on evidence that jurors didn't get to hear.

Cooper's defense team claimed that someone tampered with a computer in which investigators found evidence of a Google Maps search of the site where Nancy Cooper’s body was found that was conducted the day before she went missing.

The judge, however, did not allow the testimony, saying the expert witness wasn't qualified. He also disallowed a second witness, because the prosecution argued that timing didn't allow them to prepare for adequate cross-examination.

Cooper, 38, is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole at Central Prison in Raleigh.