This situation is not a good example. Because of his death, even before he was sentenced, and he contested the charges....he was convicted after a criminal trial, this defendant never had an opportunity to exercise his right to appeal the verdict, so it would be a simple matter to get the court to wipe out his convictions, as in the case of Kenneth Lay, and thus, there is nothing to discuss, since the "rapist" could posthumously obtain an indictment/conviction free record:
Quote:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/D8KQJQK00.html
Judge Vacates Conviction of Ken Lay
Oct 17 03:29 PM US/Eastern
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
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HOUSTON—A federal judge Tuesday vacated the conviction of Enron's late founder Kenneth Lay, wiping out a jury's verdict that he committed fraud and conspiracy in one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history.
Lay was convicted of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks in two separate cases on May 25. Enron's collapse in 2001 wiped out thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in market value and more than $2 billion in pension plans.
Lay died of heart disease July 5 while vacationing with his wife, Linda, in Aspen, Colo.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, in a ruling Tuesday, agreed with Lay's lawyers that his death required erasing his convictions. They cited a 2004 ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found that a defendant's death pending appeal extinguished his entire case because he hadn't had a full opportunity to challenge the conviction and the government shouldn't be able to punish a dead defendant or his estate....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101700808.html
....With the judge's order, Lay's conviction on 10 criminal charges will be erased from the record. "The indictment against Kenneth L. Lay is dismissed," U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III wrote in a spare, 13-page order.
Legal analysts said Lake's ruling closely hewed to a long-held doctrine called abatement, which allows a conviction to be vacated if defendants die before they are able to exercise their right to appeal. Courts typically rule that defendants' constitutional rights to challenge their convictions outweigh other considerations, and the law hesitates to punish the dead, the analysts said.
Samuel J. Buffone, a Washington-based lawyer for Lay, said the family was pleased with the ruling. "As far as we're concerned, this is the last step," Buffone said. <h3>"It's as if the indictment never occurred."....</h3>
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