Topeka ? A panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the conviction of a man sentenced to serve more than 10 years in prison for a burglary spree at three west Lawrence homes in 2011.

Scott Blackmon was sentenced to 130 months in prison for the burglaries including one on Atchison Avenue where he was accused of robbing a home while the family’s teen-age daughter was home alone.

In his appeal, Blackmon said District Judge Kay Huff gave erroneous jury instructions, and the court failed to verify on the record that Blackmon did not want to testify in his defense.

The appeals panel however said the judge correctly informed the jury and that Kansas Supreme Court precedent says a trial court has no duty to inquire whether a defendant waives the right to testify.