Posted by
cehwiedel on Thursday, November 16, 2006 2:22:53 PM
Senator Feinstein, jointly with Senator Jeff Sessions, has
introduced a bill to prevent a federal criminal conviction from being vacated if a defendant dies before the appeal has run its course:
Bill Summary
Specifically, the bill would:
- Establish that, if a defendant dies after being convicted of a federal offense, his conviction will not be vacated.
Instead, the court will be directed to issue a statement stating that
the defendant was convicted (either by a guilty plea or a verdict
finding him guilty) but then died before his case or appeal was final.
-
Codify the current rule that no further criminal punishments can be
imposed on a person who is convicted if they die before a sentence is
imposed or they have an opportunity to appeal their conviction.
-
Clarify that, unlike criminal punishment, all other relief (such as
restitution to the victims) that could have been sought against a
convicted defendant can continue to be pursued and collected after the
defendant’s death.
-
Establish a process to ensure that after a person dies, a
representative of his estate can stand in the shoes of the defendant
and challenge or appeal his conviction if they want, and can also
secure a lawyer - either on their own or by having one appointed.
Additionally, if the Government had filed a criminal forfeiture action
— seeking a criminal punishment to reach assets which it had sought to
reach the defendant’s assets that were linked to his crimes — the
Government would get an extra 2 years after the defendant’s death to
file a parallel civil forfeiture lawsuit so that it could try to
recover those same assets in a different and traditionally-accepted
manner.
The main motivation here seems to be asset recovery, i.e., money. Nothing in current law stops the civil suits from proceeding against the defendant's estate. Ths bill would just make it easier for the government to go after assets of the estate.
Sounds like a bad idea.
For more information about the California Senate delegation, visit the
California Senate Delegation Squidoo Lens.
[You are invited to visit
www.cehwiedel.com, where I write about many topics other than the esteemed members of the California delegation to the United States Senate.]