Convicted clinic bomber makes new push to get out of prison
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — A public defender for convicted clinic bomber Eric Rudolph argues in a new court filing that the 2005 conviction cannot stand and should be vacated.
The 31-page court filing is a response to federal prosecutors who opposed Rudolph's motion seeking to set aside his life prison sentence and that he be released with time served.
In June, Rudolph initially filed the hand-written motion citing a U.S. Supreme court ruling in an unrelated case which he claimed made his acts no longer qualify as a crime of violence.
U.S. prosecutors argued that terms of Rudolph's 2005 plea agreement kept him from appealing. But the filing by Rudolph's court appointed public defender disagrees: "By its own terms, the plea agreement in this case only bars Mr. Rudolph from collaterally attacking his sentences, not his underlying convictions."
The motion goes on to state "This court should therefore vacate Mr. Rudolph's conviction and sentence on count 2 and set his case for resentencing for county 1."
The 53-year-old Rudolph is currently serving a life prison sentence for the 1998 bombing of the New Woman, All Women clinic that killed Birmingham police officer Robert Sanderson and critically injured nurse Emily Lyons.
