For the second time in less than a month, an appellate court denied Andrew Luster's attempt at an appeal Wednesday, saying he forfeited that right when he fled his trial.

In a decision that limits the Max Factor heir's options further, the 2nd District Court of Appeal, 6th Division, in Ventura ruled that because he "flouted" the court's authority by escaping house arrest, he cannot appeal.

Quoting from previous court decisions, Justice Kenneth Yegan wrote, "An appellate court may employ dismissal as a sanction when a defendant's flight operates as an affront to the dignity of the court's proceedings.

"It is often said that a fugitive 'flouts' the authority of the court by escaping, and that dismissal is an appropriate sanction for this act of disrespect."

In his written motion, Luster's attorney told the court that his client did not flout the Court of Appeal's authority, but that if he did flee intentionally, he disrespected the trial court, not the appellate court.

Yegan disagreed, writing, "This is a myopic view of the record. Here there is the required nexus between appellant's fugitive status and the appellate process."

Later, he wrote, "Had petitioner voluntarily reappeared, he would have a much stronger argument for reinstatement of the appeal."

But Luster, 39, did not come back by choice. On June 19, bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman and his crew nabbed Factor's great-grandson at a taco stand in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

He had been on the run since January, when he fled during a two-week holiday break in his Ventura County Superior Court trial. A jury later convicted him in absentia of drugging and raping three women inside his Mussel Shoals home, and Judge Ken Riley sentenced him to 124 years in prison.

After his capture, the authorities took Luster straight to Wasco State Prison to begin serving his sentence. Soon after, attorney Roger Diamond filed a motion to reinstate his client's appeal.

About 10 days before Luster was apprehended, the appellate court denied his previous appeal, saying he had relinquished those rights when he fled. In its decision Wednesday, the three justices basically reiterated that opinion.

Deputy Attorney General Joseph Lee, who is handling the appeal for the state, said the court made the right call.

"We're obviously pleased with it and we believe that the court's decision was correct," he said. "His flight was due to his own voluntary actions; therefore, he abandoned or forfeited his rights to an appeal."

Diamond noted that the same court had lowered Luster's bail from $10 million to $1 million in 2000, which eventually led to his release and subsequent flight.

"The Court of Appeal was obviously upset with the fact that Luster took advantage of the bail reduction that it made," he said. "The court might have taken it personally."

Diamond said he will file a petition to the state Supreme Court on July 11, and that court will have 60 days to decide if it wants to hear the case. If it decides not to, Luster's appeal efforts would end.