The Supreme Court, in a 6-2 decision this past week, said it had looked over documents submitted by the three and concluded "there is no need for further review."

Glenn E. Grose; his brother, Johnny Grose; and Timothy Jordan were convicted in 2008. The state Court of Appeals upheld the convictions in 2010. The Supreme Court had agreed last fall to take a look at the case.

Glenn Grose was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences on three counts of sexual battery. He also got 10 years on a child neglect count. Jordan and Johnny Grose each were sentenced to life in prison for rape and 10 years each on charges of child neglect and fondling.

Prosecutors said the three men had sex with the toddler on numerous occasions in 2005.

The Court of Appeals rejected arguments that the defendants were not allowed to confront their accuser because the trial judge allowed hearsay testimony from a therapist and others. The trial judge also allowed jurors to see a videotaped questioning of the child.

The Appeals Court said the testimony fell under the "tender years" exception to the hearsay rule.

The tender years exception generally allows a parent or licensed professional to tell juries what abused children have told them, including descriptions of any act of sexual contact performed with or on the child by another.

Supreme Court Justice David Anthony Chandler, in a dissent joined by Justice James Kitchens, focused on the videotape of the child.

Chandler said no law enforcement officers were present when the girl was questioned by a nonprofit group.

Chandler said testimony at trial was that the child was videotaped so she wouldn't have to be questioned more than once about the same thing.

The videotape clearly showed "a prosecutorial purpose," Chandler said, because of the nature of the questions asked of the child and it was transmitted to law enforcement officials.

He said the nonprofit agency had become an agent of law enforcement and the child's interview was "intended as a substitute for trial testimony."

Chandler said the facts that child did not testify at the trial and defense attorneys were not allowed to talk to her violated the defendants' rights to confront their accuser