Sentencing/Post Conviction
Ga. Supreme Court Nixes Secret Sentence-Review Panels
Posted Jul 8, 2008, 11:14 am CST
By Molly McDonough
A split Georgia Supreme Court has overturned a controversial system of secretive post-conviction review panels that since its inception has reduced sentences for hundreds of prisoners in the state.
But the 4-3 court stopped short of reinstating the original prison terms, the Associated Press reports.
Reinstating the sentences would amount to double jeopardy, the majority held.
Monday's ruling was a disappointment to former District Attorney J. Brown Moseley, who began actively fighting the system after a panel of three judges reduced the manslaughter sentence of Sandra Widner from 15 to eight years.
Moseley, who accepted a plea deal in the case to spare the victim's family from a trial, has said Widner should be in prison "every day she's supposed to be there."
"I'm absolutely disappointed in this ruling," Moseley is quoted as saying. "I think they've lost sight of what the laws are made for."
But defense lawyers were pleased with the ruling. Many supported the panels as a check on overly harsh or unjustified sentences.
Hat tip Criminal Justice Journalists.
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