The Court of Appeal has rejected a man's appeal on his conviction last July for importing more than $243,000 worth of cocaine.

Albert Omar Peyton, 23, of Brooklyn, New York, was tried a second time and found guilty by nine members of a eight-woman, four-man Supreme Court jury last July 15.

In December, 1996, a jury was unable to reach a verdict after deliberating for four-and-a-half hours.

Peyton was arrested at Bermuda International airport around 9.30 p.m. May 22, 1996 after a Customs Officer found two bags of cocaine hidden inside two bottles of baby powder.

The officer had initiated a search because he had recognised Peyton from a visit two weeks prior.

The drug was 64 percent pure and a Police expert testified that it was worth $243,166 on the street if sold in half gram wraps for $125 each.

It emerged that Peyton lied when he told Customs officer O'Brien Roberts that he had bought the baby products from a store in Manhattan when in fact someone else had given them to him.

Additionally, it came to light that the address he gave to Police -- 36 Hermitage Road did not exist -- even though he knew that he was going to be staying at the Sandpiper Guest House.

Peyton admitted that he was paid $1,000 to bring the items into Bermuda.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal tribunal rejected the following grounds for appeal argued by Peyton's lawyer Elizabeth Christopher: Peyton's visit was irrelevant to the charges and the jury may have been invited to infer that "wrongdoing'' may have occurred and would have prejudiced them; The court upheld the evidence of his previous visit as a test run for the importation of drugs; and The court rejected an appeal that the admission of the evidence of Peyton's address as 56 Hermitage Road would mislead the jury into believing it to be of "probative value''.

Grounds five and six of the appeal centred around the prosecution neglecting to call investigating officer Det. Con. Rudolph Richardson -- who was at the centre of controversy in an earlier drugs case -- to the stand.

The Court of Appeal, while refusing Ms Christopher's application, said Det.

Con. Richardson should have been called in the interests of fairness, and the jury given the chance to evaluate the truthfulness of his evidence.

The justices emphasised that prosecutors do have discretion in calling witnesses, but it is not "unfettered and must be exercised in the interest of justice to promote a fair trial''.

Also rejected was an appeal on the ground that the Chief Justice failed to remind the jury of a contradiction in whether or not Peyton had conversed with officers at the Airport Police Station.

And the tribunal called the last ground a "material irregularity''. It concerned the Chief Justice failing to instruct the jury in how to handle the question of the character of Peyton and its relevance to his credibility.

The court said judges were required to direct juries about the relevance of good character to the credibility of the accused "even when by his own admission he has told lies in interview with Police''.

But the judges felt there was no "miscarriage of justice'' even without having the testimony of Det. Con. Richardson and lack of direction to the jury on character.

They said the Chief Justice's summation left no doubt for the jury to consider Peyton's credibility when deciding whether he knew he was carrying cocaine in his luggage.

The court found the two concurrent 14-year sentences for 980.3 grams valued at $243,000 in-line with similar cases and refused the appeal.