KY man convicted in federal murder case after state pardon

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

KY man convicted in federal murder case after state pardon sentenced to 39.5 years

A Kentucky man pardoned in a state homicide case but later convicted in federal court over the same murder has been sentenced to 39 years and six months in prison. Patrick Baker, 43, was sentenced in federal court in London on Tuesday in a case that caused an uproar in state politics. (The decision was among hundreds of pardons and commutations that Bevin, a Republican, issued at the end of his term, but the pardon for Baker was one of several that caused bitter controversy.)

Baker’s lawyers had argued in a motion he should not get a sentence of more than 19 years, the same as he had in state court in the earlier case, but U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom rejected that position.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives opened a new investigation of Baker, resulting in an indictment accusing him of murdering Mills while committing a drug crime.

Baker’s attorneys argued the case violated Baker’s right not to be punished twice for the same crime — called double jeopardy — but Boom rejected the argument. Boom said the law allowed two different sovereign governments — the U.S. and the state — to prosecute a person based on the same conduct, and that the federal indictment alleged a different crime than the state charges. The pardon for Baker was not an issue in the federal case. Boom ruled that attorneys could not mention his state conviction or pardon.

Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/cri ... rylink=cpy

[Foggy]

Needs a spiffier thread title. I'm gonna suggest "After state pardon for murder, man sentenced to 39 years in federal court."

Yeah, there will be complaints that it's too long. So shorten it already!

Now I'm gonna read the story, find out why he got pardoned in the first place.

Edit: Nope, I am not turning off my ad blocker to read the story. Oh well.

[Frater I*I]

Needs a spiffier thread title. I'm gonna suggest "After state pardon for murder, man sentenced to 39 years in federal court."

Yeah, there will be complaints that it's too long. So shorten it already!

Now I'm gonna read the story, find out why he got pardoned in the first place.

Edit: Nope, I am not turning off my ad blocker to read the story. Oh well.

Would you be surprised to learn the the convicts' brother and sister-in-law held a fundraiser for the ex-gov to the tune on 21K to pay off campaign debt???

[Slim Cognito]

I'd be more surprised if they hadn't.