A Prisoner Who Briefly Died Argues That He's Served His Life Sentence

[mysteryowl]

What does it mean to complete a sentence of life in prison? One prisoner claims he has done it by serving time until the moment of his death — plus another four years since — and says it is well past time to set him free.

The prisoner, Benjamin Schreiber, made that argument to an appeals court in Iowa, saying that when he briefly died in 2015, before being revived at a hospital, he completed his obligation to the state. He asked the three-judge panel to let him get on with his life.

The judges rejected his argument this week, ruling that a lower court had been right to dismiss his petition.

“Schreiber is either still alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is actually dead, in which case this appeal is moot,” Judge Amanda Potterfield wrote for the court.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/us/prisoner-dies-life-sentence.html

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Clever, he has a point.

[ck4829]

1. Well he's a zombie now, we clearly can't release a zombie out to the public

We need a place to put this zombie now, separated from the rest of the world... for everyone's safety

[customerserviceguy]

10. That was funny! n/t

[Hortensis]

2. Lol, it's a point, as you say, but CK makes a much better one.

[ck4829]

8. Ah thank you

[rzemanfl]

3. There was a character in some Laurence Shames novels who got out of the

Mafia on this theory. Bert the Shirt was his name.

[Cirque du So-What]

4. Sorry, but near-death does not mean life ended

There's no coming back from cellular death, which obviously didn't happen.

[Renew Deal]

5. It works on TV

[mysteryowl]

6. Maybe that is where he got the idea.

[dware]

7. A novel theory,

but the judge wasn't buying it.

[keithbvadu2]

9. Does he get a new birth certificate?

Does he get a new birth certificate?

[customerserviceguy]

11. Only if he's a fundy. n/t