Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips appeals murder conviction

ROCHESTER - Ralph “Bucky” Phillips is embellishing his reputation as a troublesome inmate as his lawyers move forward with an appeal of his conviction for killing a state trooper during the largest manhunt in New York history.

Phillips, 46, who is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole, has been sanctioned five times since arriving at a remote prison in the Adirondack Mountains in January 2007, most notably for seeking to obtain unspecified explosive devices, the state Corrections Department said Tuesday.

Phillips maintains he pleaded guilty to a litany of murder, attempted murder and escape charges because he got bad advice from a court-appointed lawyer. At an Oct. 20 hearing, his current attorneys will ask the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in Rochester to overturn his convictions so he can stand trial.