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Iowa Convicted Killer Claims He Served Life Sentence After He Died, And Then Revived
https://www.foxnews.com/us/iowa-conv...t-the-hospital
An Iowa judge on Wednesday rejected an appeal from a convicted murderer who argued that because he suffered a medical emergency in 2015—and died momentarily—he therefore already completed his life-sentence and since then has been unjustly held behind bars over the past four years.
Benjamin Schreiber, 66, was rushed from the Iowa State Penitentiary to the hospital in 2015 after large kidney stones caused him to develop septic poisoning, according to court records. Schreiber – who had been convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 and sentenced to life without parole – was unconscious by the time he arrived to the hospital, the Des Moines Register reported.
He had signed a "do not resuscitate" order years earlier. Hospital staff also called his brother in Texas who told them "if he is in pain, you may give him something to ease the pain, but otherwise you are to let him pass," court documents said. Doctors instead administered resuscitation fluids through an IV and performed life-saving surgery to repair the damage caused by the kidney stones.
Schreiber filed for post-conviction relief April 2018, claiming that he died momentarily at the hospital and therefore finished his life sentenced. He said in court documents that he was sentenced to life behind bars “but not to life plus one day." A district court rejected his request for release, writing that his argument was "unpersuasive and without merit."
The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld that decision Wednesday. "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 in the court of appeals opinion.
Neither court addressed Schreiber’s additional claim that his due process rights were violated when doctors ignored his “do not resuscitate” order, the Register reported.
Benjamin Schreiber, 66, was rushed from the Iowa State Penitentiary to the hospital in 2015 after large kidney stones caused him to develop septic poisoning, according to court records. Schreiber – who had been convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 and sentenced to life without parole – was unconscious by the time he arrived to the hospital, the Des Moines Register reported.
He had signed a "do not resuscitate" order years earlier. Hospital staff also called his brother in Texas who told them "if he is in pain, you may give him something to ease the pain, but otherwise you are to let him pass," court documents said. Doctors instead administered resuscitation fluids through an IV and performed life-saving surgery to repair the damage caused by the kidney stones.
Schreiber filed for post-conviction relief April 2018, claiming that he died momentarily at the hospital and therefore finished his life sentenced. He said in court documents that he was sentenced to life behind bars “but not to life plus one day." A district court rejected his request for release, writing that his argument was "unpersuasive and without merit."
The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld that decision Wednesday. "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 in the court of appeals opinion.
Neither court addressed Schreiber’s additional claim that his due process rights were violated when doctors ignored his “do not resuscitate” order, the Register reported.
It was Pastor Zeke who sponsored the initial case and the appeal He commented “The glib dismissal of Benjamin’s appeal by a woman says all you need to know about the American Justice System.”
“It was an obvious from the start that this was an appeal that we should have won.” Said an obviously disappointed Pastor Ezekiel Flint of Landover Baptist Church, Freehold, Iowa. Pastor Flint continued “The case could not have been clearer. Benjamin died and his very soul was judged by the Greatest Judge there is – Jesus!” Speaking more forcefully, he added “Is that woman saying that Jesus, who raised Benjamin from the dead did the wrong thing? Is she saying “Oh – yes, well Jesus makes mistakes – He should never have given that guy a second chance? He has been, quite literally, Born Again!”
Staring at the crowd and doing his best forgive the judge her injustice, Pastor Flint (aged 29 years and 10 months) explained, “This is a local case and concerns local churches, and nowhere is more local than Landover!” This is a verdict that strikes at the very basis of Christianity.”
“We hear all the time of various people in surgery who, under the influence of powerful narcotics that release the brain from atheist brainwashing, suddenly find themselves dead. It is well-known and scientifically proven that their soul floats off and views the scene from above – how else could they describe the scene? Not only that but these people bear witness to seeing Jesus beckoning them towards the light that is eternal life with Him in Heaven!” Said Pastor Zeke.
But Jesus sends them back as witnesses to us all of the Truth of Jesus’s Promise.
“I would like you all to contrast this with the following case:
A man who spent more than three decades in an Alabama prison -- a $50 robbery in 1983 triggered a life sentence -- will soon be free, according to media reports.
Circuit Judge David Carpenter on Wednesday resentenced Alvin Kennard, 58, to time served, Fox 6 reported.
Kennard has spent the past 36 years in the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. He was sentenced to life without parole for a Jan. 24, 1983, bakery robbery.
Kennard, then 22, was sentenced under the state's Habitual Felony Offender Act. He had a previous second-degree burglary conviction to his name, which led to his life sentence, AL.com reported.
Circuit Judge David Carpenter on Wednesday resentenced Alvin Kennard, 58, to time served, Fox 6 reported.
Kennard has spent the past 36 years in the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. He was sentenced to life without parole for a Jan. 24, 1983, bakery robbery.
Kennard, then 22, was sentenced under the state's Habitual Felony Offender Act. He had a previous second-degree burglary conviction to his name, which led to his life sentence, AL.com reported.
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