The Massachusetts Court of Appeals has dealt another setback to an Aquinnah landowner who has tried unsuccessfully for more than two decades to argue that he is entitled to access to his landlocked property.

In a summary decision issued last week, a three-judge panel ruled that a lawsuit filed last year by James J. Decoulos was effectively trying to re-litigate claims that had already been rejected by the state’s highest court.

In the earlier case, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2016 that there was no express right of common access granted in 1878 when the land off Moshup Trail was divided into 500 lots, several of which were later purchased by trusts controlled by Mr. Decoulos and his wife Maria Kitras. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case.

The recent decision came in a case filed last year against the town of Aquinnah by Mr. Decoulos which had been dismissed by a superior court judge. The appeals court said that although his specific argument was different, it rested on issues that had already been decided.

The appeals court panel included Judges Mary Thomas Sullivan, Kenneth V. Desmond Jr. and Sabita Singh.