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Does a life sentence end if you briefly die? Inmate says yes, but Iowa court says no
Miami Herald ^ | 11/08/19 | CHACOUR KOOP

Posted on 11/08/2019 3:19:15 PM PST by Libloather

An Iowa inmate claims his life sentence is complete because he already died - but doctors brought him back to life.

An appeals court just ruled that’s not how it works.

In 2015, Benjamin Schreiber, 66, collapsed inside his prison cell from septic poisoning after kidney stones caused him to “urinate internally,” according to an appeals court ruling this week. He was rushed from the Iowa State Penitentiary to the hospital, where doctors revived him five times with adrenaline and repaired his damaged organ.

Three years later, Schreiber sought to be freed when he argued in court that he fulfilled his life sentence after momentarily dying.

(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: court; death; inmate; iowa
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He has a point. Well, he did, while dead. Now he doesn't.
1 posted on 11/08/2019 3:19:15 PM PST by Libloather
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To: Libloather

Mostly dead is not dead


2 posted on 11/08/2019 3:20:47 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: Libloather

And what about multiple life sentences? You’d think they’d have to specify that.


3 posted on 11/08/2019 3:21:25 PM PST by rightwingcrazy (;-)
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To: Libloather

If he is undead, we should drive a stake through his heart.


4 posted on 11/08/2019 3:21:34 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: DannyTN

He’s dead Jim. ....


5 posted on 11/08/2019 3:26:13 PM PST by redshawk ( I want my red balloon. https://youtu.be/V12H2mteniE)
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To: Libloather
Hey, a silly legal argument like this ain’t a bad idea when you’re serving a live sentence. LOL.

“I should be freed from prison, your Honor ... because I’m now dead. Dead tired, that is.”

6 posted on 11/08/2019 3:26:21 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
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To: Libloather

A life sentence should be an automatic DNR.


7 posted on 11/08/2019 3:28:10 PM PST by TheDon (MAGA!)
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To: Libloather

That law is going to need some tweaking to avoid this challenge in the future. There are numerous methods to revive somebody these days that were never available before.


8 posted on 11/08/2019 3:28:45 PM PST by lee martell
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To: Libloather
I heard that he had a “Do NOT Resuscitate” condition in his health records at the prison.
9 posted on 11/08/2019 3:30:02 PM PST by Mark (Celebrities... is there anything they do not know? -Homer Simpson)
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To: rightwingcrazy

What about reincarnation? Multiple life sentences might be applicable then.


10 posted on 11/08/2019 3:30:16 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Libloather

Hmm. My wholly personal, unqualified non medical and nonlegal opinion says yes, A life sentence ends if you briefly die.

Nothing in the original sentence defines how long you must be dead.


11 posted on 11/08/2019 3:30:29 PM PST by Redcitizen (Tagline not secure.)
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To: Libloather
If he is alive he needs to stay in prison until the person he beat to death returns from the dead.

If he is dead he should be buried or cremated.

12 posted on 11/08/2019 3:33:44 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (A hero is a hero no matter what medal they give him. Likewise a schmuck is still a schmuck.)
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To: lee martell
Unless there was a death certificate issued, he was never “dead” in any way that would stand up in a court of law.

Do you think a life insurance company would ever pay out a settlement to this guy’s family if he had a $1 million insurance policy and he “died” for five minutes? LOL.

13 posted on 11/08/2019 3:34:19 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
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To: butlerweave
Mostly dead is not dead.

Does anyone remember Man-Made Monster (1941) a horror film from Universal Pictures, starring Lon Chaney, Jr.?

He survived electrocution that killed all the others in a bus accident where a high power line was hit. Then he was impervious to electric shocks.

Amazingly this was recalled in the comedy The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) where Barbara Streisand retells the plot to George Segal. One of my favorite movies.

14 posted on 11/08/2019 3:36:15 PM PST by frank ballenger (End vote fraud & harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: Libloather

15 posted on 11/08/2019 3:36:40 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Redcitizen

Right. Maybe the court should just agree with him that his life sentence is over, and then order the court officers to take his carcass into custody so he can be cremated. :-P


16 posted on 11/08/2019 3:36:51 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
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To: Libloather

“I met one brother. His name was J-Bone. Motherf........ could lift weights. He was in charge. Muscles every-mother.......’-where. He was doing a sentence… triple life. How in the .... do you do triple life? I mean. That mean if he die and come back… he got to go to the penitentiary. Right? They’ll say, “F... kindergarten. Get your little ass back in the penitentiary. Mother...... You know what you did last time you was here.””

-Richard Pryor


17 posted on 11/08/2019 3:39:12 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Larry Lucido
What about reincarnation? Multiple life sentences might be applicable then.

Good, original post.

Let's hope lawyers do not read FR. "Let's see, my billable hours and legal fees for tracing each incarnation and defending against the sentence for each life restored equals...."

18 posted on 11/08/2019 3:39:17 PM PST by frank ballenger (End vote fraud & harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: Redcitizen
The show isn't over ten minutes in because a commercial comes on! The show is over when its over. The sentence doesn't say your life has to be uninterrupted either. The totality of this guy's life includes the period before AND after intermission.
19 posted on 11/08/2019 3:44:28 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Libloather

Does he have a life now? If so, he is still serving his life sentence. Case closed.


20 posted on 11/08/2019 3:47:39 PM PST by ZinGirl (Now a grandma ....can't afford a tagline :))
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