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| Texas ''Sleeping Lawyer'' Inmate Gets Life Sentence |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 06/27/2003 |
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A Texas man whose death sentence was overturned because his lawyer slept through parts of his trial agreed to a plea bargain June 19 that will keep him off death row, but behind bars for life. Calvin Burdine, whose case raised questions about the quality of justice in Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state, pleaded guilty to capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony possession of a weapon and will serve life sentences for each. He was set for a new trial in August after the U.S. Supreme Court last year upheld a lower court ruling that he had had inadequate legal representation. Burdine, 50, originally was sentenced to die for stabbing his gay lover to death even though witnesses said his attorney, the late Joe Cannon, fell sleep at least 10 times during the 1984 trial. Despite numerous legal questions raised by Cannon's behavior, Texas prosecutors argued that it had not affected the trial's outcome and therefore Burdine should be put to death. Death penalty opponents said the case showed the unfairness and harshness of the justice system in Texas, which leads the nation with 305 executions since 1982. The next closest state is Virginia with 88 executions. Lawyers for Burdine said they negotiated a plea bargain with prosecutors because a new trial would put him at risk of being sentenced to death again. ''Today, the so-called 'sleeping lawyer' case was finally put to rest. For so long, justice has been asleep in this matter -- today, justice woke up,'' attorney Danalynn Recer said in a statement. |
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