Sen. Larry Craig Files Appeal

(AP)  Embattled Sen. Larry Craig asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals Monday to overrule a county judge who refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in connection with an arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting.

Craig's appeal was filed at the court in St. Paul less than two weeks after Hennepin County Judge Charles Porter refused to overturn the guilty plea, saying it "was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and ... supported by the evidence."

Craig, a Republican from Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June.

The four-page filing did not detail the basis for the appeal.

In an interview on Sunday with KTVB-TV in Boise, Idaho, Craig repeated that he will not resign his post in the Senate and said he had the right to pursue his legal options.

"It is my right to do what I'm doing," said Craig. "I've already provided for Idaho certainty that Idaho needed - I'm not running for re-election. I'm no longer in the way. I am pursuing my constitutional rights."

But legal experts have predicted that Craig would have a hard time winning on appeal.

"What's the likelihood of success? Even less likely of prevailing in the appeal than he had in prevailing before Porter," Steve Simon, a legal defense expert at the University of Minnesota Law School, said earlier this month.

---

Click here to see Craig's motion to appeal (PDF)

---

The appeals court must find there's been an "abuse of discretion" by the trial judge before overturning a ruling - in other words, that some aspect of the ruling was decided improperly. Ron Meshbesher, a longtime Minneapolis defense attorney, said earlier this month that the standard for an abuse of discretion is vague but that such a ruling is fairly rare.

"It's not frequent, let's put it that way," Meshbesher said. "It certainly is a steep hill to climb."

It would most likely be well into 2008 before the Court of Appeals rules on the case. The process by which both sides prepare their legal briefs alone usually stretches to more than 100 days.

A heavy caseload at the Court of Appeals has slowed down both the scheduling of oral arguments and the release of rulings, according to court spokesman John Kostouros. It has been taking at least three months after briefs are filed for arguments to be scheduled, he said, and at least another three months before a decision is reached.

Craig's Senate term ends at the end of 2008.

[sftodd]

This is why idiots like you are no allowed on juries, delusional bigotry.
Posted by jowand at 05:34 AM : Oct 16, 2007

Err, derr, guess what? I was already on a jury - hit a republican with a HUGE verdict! He went home crying. :-)

[outofboundss]

This was GREAT: http://www.nationalsquib.com/html/senator_craig.html

[adian1-2009]

Senator Craig personal history from one side and his awareness of how homos are seen in his political party must have played a role in his decision to enter a guilty plea. That integrity and honesty are absent in this senator is clear. That people like him should have never become anything near a legislator is also clear. But . . . he is not alone in the Senate, nor in his party, nor in our society. In fact, his case has disclosed a multiple --not merely double-- standard in the ways the conservatives approach this kind of cases. Look at how they have dealt with Vitter. Since Vitter''s is an adulterous relation with women prostitutes, they let it pass. But Craig is judged to be a ****, which I think he is. That is near to intolerable for conservatives given the way they sell themselves to the public. Now here we have a man who is married, religious, family-values oriented, etc., etc., a full and complete conservative Republican. But. . . it is found that he is a ****! Eureka! He must be burned! So, my vote is that he should be given the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea and let the courts to decide if the particular statute is constitutional and if so, if what Craig did amounts to a crime. But to burn him because he is **** is simply not fair. Vitter chose to be immoral. Craig was born ****.

[jowand]

If there is a God in heaven, the courts would let him withdraw his plea, so he''''d be forced to go to trial!!! I want to watch him take the Fifth and then watch the prosecution round up a bunch of his bathroom buddies to testify against him. Craig is betting on losing all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court -- his worst nightmare is a trial on the merits -- as it stands, he gets to claim his innocence and nobody will get the chance to prove otherwise--pure republican genius!!!

Posted by sftodd at 11:20 PM : Oct 15, 2007

This is why idiots like you are no allowed on juries, delusional bigotry.

[jowand]

By the way, even if you just let it go, you will still be filthy rich, and if your family, business associates and friends believe in your innocence, what then do you care about the court record? You are still free and will never miss a single meal.

Methinks thou dost protest too much...
Posted by brianbwb at 03:20 AM : Oct 16, 2007

Since when is being rich a crime in the US, if he were a Dem you would be howling foul. Bark bark bark you Yellow Dog Progressive.

[brianbwb-2009]

Look Larry, all you have to do is ****, meet Bush in the toilet, and tap to him that you support his foreign policy, you will be pardoned, along with all the rest of his thug friends, like Rice, Powell, Wolfowitz, Cheney, you know the list.

By the way, even if you just let it go, you will still be filthy rich, and if your family, business associates and friends believe in your innocence, what then do you care about the court record? You are still free and will never miss a single meal.

Methinks thou dost protest too much...

[sftodd]

If there is a God in heaven, the courts would let him withdraw his plea, so he''d be forced to go to trial!!! I want to watch him take the Fifth and then watch the prosecution round up a bunch of his bathroom buddies to testify against him. Craig is betting on losing all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court -- his worst nightmare is a trial on the merits -- as it stands, he gets to claim his innocence and nobody will get the chance to prove otherwise--pure republican genius!!!

[lastdance2]

Blackmail - Works both sides of the Street

The Republican (Nazi) Party - Better be very nice to - Craig

Otherwise the Federal ..Child S*e*x* .. Operations may become very Public ! !

Over the Decades - Too many Influential Loyal - Republican (Nazi) Party Members
Took a active part in it ! ! !

Lastdance

[kansas1946]

I don''''t know if Idaho has a recall method but if they do they should recall this person

****************************
Recall?? Heck, they just inducted him into the Idaho Hall Of Fame. I don''t think they plan on recalling him. Anyway, I hope they don''t. Where else could we have this much fun for free?

[hawksprings]

What''s funny about the foot-tapping thing is that those of us who are straight and don''t know about the whole gay-morse code thing, if Craig had been in the stall next to me I would have ignored him not realizing he was trying to get my attention.