PORTLAND — The Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday denied the appeal of a Levant man convicted of murdering his former lover more than three years ago.

Howard Robinson, 56, was sentenced to 50 years for the gunshot slaying of Constance Humphrey in October 1994 outside the hunting and fishing lodge the two operated in Oxbow Plantation.

The justices found no merit to Robinson’s argument that the trial judge erred in refusing to instruct the jury about what constitutes adequate provocation.

The court also rejected the claim that the court exceeded its discretion in denying Robinson a pretrial continuance.