AUBURN – A Lewiston man convicted of murdering a Bates College student during a street brawl near the campus more than a year ago has lost his bid for a retrial.

A judge ruled Wednesday there were no grounds to order a new trial for Brandon Thongsavanh, 20, who is serving a 58-year sentence for fatally stabbing Morgan McDuffee, 22, of Peterborough, N.H.

Thongsavanh’s lawyer argued last month that a new trial was warranted because of fresh evidence, including a statement he recently obtained from a 20-year-old woman who claims she overheard another man confess to stabbing McDuffee in March 2002.

The lawyer, William Maselli, also said a different woman reported that the alternate suspect had displayed a knife just weeks before the slaying. The knife used to kill McDuffee never was recovered.

Maselli also claimed the trial was tainted when jurors were shown a mug shot of Thongsavanh with a shaved head revealing horn tattoos and a videotaped interview in which police refer to the defendant’s violent criminal history.

In denying the motion for a new trial, Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman ruled that the man named as an alternate suspect was cleared by police when his clothing failed to show traces of McDuffee’s blood. Clothing Thongsavanh was wearing the night of the stabbing never was found.

Gorman also pointed out that Maselli’s new evidence came in the form of testimony from people who were not present during the brawl that led to the slaying. She added that physical evidence and eyewitness testimony led to Thongsavanh’s conviction at his trial in February.

“After weighing evidence, assessing the credibility of the witnesses presented at trial and assessing the credibility of those who testified in September,” Gorman wrote in her ruling, “the court is convinced that the defendant has failed to prove that the proffered testimony would probably lead to a different result in a new trial.”

Thongsavanh appealed his conviction to the Supreme Judicial Court, and Maselli said he plans to use the new testimony as his foundation for the appeal.