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Split Sixth Circuit rejects habeas appeal for arson defendant serving LWOP

By Douglas A. Berman

Michigan does not have the death penalty, and thus nobody need worry about whether the defendant who lost his habeas appeal in Babick v. Berghuis, No. 08-1376 (6th Cir. Sept. 3, 2010) (available here), will be wrongfully executed.  Ironically, though, I suspect the very fact that the defendant in Babick is not facing execution could mean nobody (other than the dissenting judge) will worry much about the defendant at all.  Here is the start of the majority opinion in Babick: At 2 a.m. on September 9, 1995, a house burned down in Battle Creek, Michigan, within minutes after Andrew Babick, Jr. left it.  Two young boys died in the blaze.  A jury in Michigan state court later convicted Babick of one count of arson and two counts of first-degree felony murder...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 03, 2010 (boomark / email).