Whipped Cream Difficulties

Can a legally dead man be tried, convicted, and sentenced to the death penalty?

If this was a movie with Ashley Judd (perhaps as a sexy public defender), it would probably gross $200 million at least.

Unfortunately, it isn’t.

Thomas Steven Sanders was declared “legally dead” in 1994. His family brought the action, claiming Sanders had abandoned them in 1987.

The thing is, he wasn’t actually dead dead:

Sanders was unquestionably alive, living and working at odd jobs across four southeastern states and Nevada, and reportedly racking up a number of traffic tickets and a sentencing in Georgia for simple battery.

Now he’s suspected of killing a 12-year-old girl and her mother. He’s apparently confessed, but his lawyers are trying to get the confession thrown out because Sanders asked for a lawyer first.

One thing is certain: somebody’s going to get a book deal out of this case.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2012 at 10:06 am and is filed under Clippings, Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.