Benjamin Schreiber was sentenced to life without parole in 1997 by a court in Iowa ...
for first-degree murder, after bludgeoning a man to death in 1996.
In March 2015, he developed large kidney stones that led to septic poisoning and he eventually fell unconscious in his prison cell and was taken to a local hospital. During treatment he had to be resuscitated five separate times.
This led to an unusual appeal for release from prison, when the now 66 year old, claimed that he is being imprisoned illegally, because as he had momentarily died in the hospital, he had fulfilled his 'life' sentence, and therefore should be released immediately as he had been resuscitated against his wishes.
This novel argument was met with the following appeals court ruling by Judge Amanda Potterfield who said Schreiber's bid - while original - was "unpersuasive" and that "plain reading" of Iowa law says defendants guilty of a Class A felony "must spend the rest of their natural life in prison, regardless of how long that period of time ends up being or any events occurring before the defendant's life ends. Schreiber is either alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is dead, in which case this appeal is moot." It added that his sentence would not end until a medical examiner formally declares him dead.
Odd as all this is, its not without precedents ..... A botched hanging in Fiji of a man known only as 'The Man Franks' resulted in him being spared in 1872. Three minutes after dropping from the gallows, he started moving and talking, asking to be put out of his misery. He managed to free his hands and reached up and pull the rope from his throat, forgiving those around him for the "black job" they'd made of his execution. Finally an official cut Franks down. After watching such a horror show, no one wanted to go through it again, and Franks was spared death.
In 1650, Anne Greene was hung and her friends had pulled at her body to hasten her demise the body was cut down and delivered to a medical school for dissection. However the doctors found her breathing and managed to revive her ... Greene was pardoned after public opinion took this a a judgement of gods mercy. Taking her coffin as a souvenir, she settled in another town, married, and had children. Her father thought to charge admission to meet her, and the money settled all her medical and legal debts.
In 1724, in Scotland, Maggie Dickson was executed by hanging in Edinburgh and her own family was able to claim the body. As the family took Maggie in her coffin toward the cemetery, they heard her tapping on the inside of the coffin. Maggie's survival was taken as an act of God. She became a celebrity, nicknamed Half-Hangit Maggie. She lived another 40 years, and today a tavern stands in her honour near the site of her hanging.
So if Mr Schreiber had been released, he would not have been breaking entirely new ground.
 |
| Benjamin Schreiber Posted Unusual Appeal ... |
for first-degree murder, after bludgeoning a man to death in 1996.
In March 2015, he developed large kidney stones that led to septic poisoning and he eventually fell unconscious in his prison cell and was taken to a local hospital. During treatment he had to be resuscitated five separate times.
This led to an unusual appeal for release from prison, when the now 66 year old, claimed that he is being imprisoned illegally, because as he had momentarily died in the hospital, he had fulfilled his 'life' sentence, and therefore should be released immediately as he had been resuscitated against his wishes.
This novel argument was met with the following appeals court ruling by Judge Amanda Potterfield who said Schreiber's bid - while original - was "unpersuasive" and that "plain reading" of Iowa law says defendants guilty of a Class A felony "must spend the rest of their natural life in prison, regardless of how long that period of time ends up being or any events occurring before the defendant's life ends. Schreiber is either alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is dead, in which case this appeal is moot." It added that his sentence would not end until a medical examiner formally declares him dead.
Odd as all this is, its not without precedents ..... A botched hanging in Fiji of a man known only as 'The Man Franks' resulted in him being spared in 1872. Three minutes after dropping from the gallows, he started moving and talking, asking to be put out of his misery. He managed to free his hands and reached up and pull the rope from his throat, forgiving those around him for the "black job" they'd made of his execution. Finally an official cut Franks down. After watching such a horror show, no one wanted to go through it again, and Franks was spared death.
In 1650, Anne Greene was hung and her friends had pulled at her body to hasten her demise the body was cut down and delivered to a medical school for dissection. However the doctors found her breathing and managed to revive her ... Greene was pardoned after public opinion took this a a judgement of gods mercy. Taking her coffin as a souvenir, she settled in another town, married, and had children. Her father thought to charge admission to meet her, and the money settled all her medical and legal debts.
 |
| Maggie Dicksons Hanging And Pub. |
In 1724, in Scotland, Maggie Dickson was executed by hanging in Edinburgh and her own family was able to claim the body. As the family took Maggie in her coffin toward the cemetery, they heard her tapping on the inside of the coffin. Maggie's survival was taken as an act of God. She became a celebrity, nicknamed Half-Hangit Maggie. She lived another 40 years, and today a tavern stands in her honour near the site of her hanging.
So if Mr Schreiber had been released, he would not have been breaking entirely new ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed, or even just thanks if you enjoyed the post. But please make any comment relevant to the post it appears under. Off topic comments will be blocked or removed.
Moderation is on for older posts to stop spamming and comments that are off topic or inappropriate from being posted .... comments are reviewed within 48 hours. I don't block normal comments that are on topic and not inappropriate. Vexatious comments that may cause upset to other commentators, or that are attempting to espouse a particular wider political view, are reviewed before acceptance. But a certain amount of debate around a post topic is accepted, as long as it remains generally on topic and is not an attempt to become sounding board for some other cause.
Final decision on all comments is held by the blog author and is final.
Comments are always monitored for bad or abusive language, and or illegal statements i.e. overtly racist or sexist content. Spam is not tolerated and is removed.
Commentaires ne sont surveillés que pour le mauvais ou abusif langue ou déclarations illégales ie contenu ouvertement raciste ou sexiste. Spam ne est pas toléré et est éliminé.