The lawyers for convicted killers Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak are requesting an appeal of their clients' convictions.
Fetterhoff and Swetz alleged in their briefs to the 3rd Circuit that the federal trial violated their clients' right to be protected from double jeopardy - being tried twice for the same crime. Other errors alleged are that Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo erred in interpreting the federal Fair Housing Act, the law under which Donchak and Piekarsky were convicted; in deciding that Ramirez's death was voluntary manslaughter instead of involuntary manslaughter; in barring any reference to the differences among race, ethnicity, national origin, alienage or immigration status; and in restricting cross-examination of prosecution witness Eileen Burke.
The killers of Luis Ramirez were sentenced to nine years in federal prison by Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo after the pair were convicted in a federal trial in February of 2011. They were acquitted in 2010 of serious charges in state court by an all-white jury in their hometown of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.
I wonder why they could not appeal to their vestigial sense of decency and humanity and not stomp on the head of a man who they had already beat unconscious with the help of four other drunken teens.
They now seek empathy from the judicial system while they displayed no empathy for Luis Ramirez.
LINKS:
Lawyers argue for new trial for Shenandoah men convicted of hate crime
Any copyrighted material from other sources used on this site is for educational purposes only. For more information about fair use and copyright information go here:Fair Use
0 comments:
Post a Comment