A Barron County man sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the beating death of a disabled man has failed in his appeal.

On Tuesday, the third district appeals court ruled the issues Raymond Walton raised in handwritten documents from prison are "procedurally barred."

Walton argued that he was forced into a plea agreement because he has a reading and writing disability and didn't understand what he was doing.

Walton was convicted in the 1999 beating death of Michael Hatch in rural Barron County.

A witness testified Corey Kralewski beat Hatch with a tire iron and that Walton also hit Hatch several times.

Kralewski is serving a life sentence.