Under precedents set by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, a defendant is not technically ruled guilty until the person has been sentenced and has exhausted the appeals process, lawyers said.
Since Lay died before his sentencing and appeal, the conviction does not stand, and the financial claim by the government will not proceed, they said.
"I think it's pretty clear the conviction will be abated," Michael Wynne, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice said. |
