Thanks
@Seattle1 - I see she now has an attorney - maybe something will happen soon.... or not...
I shall try again next month!
I dunno but I think there's something going on here that might involve a violation of Amy's civil rights, and this might be holding up her sentencing.
Although the case docs are sealed, it's long been public that in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table (by the State of OK),
Amy changed her plea to guilty on 11/28/22-- in anticipation of a life sentence
.
Pursuant to Rule 32, except for good cause, the rule calls for the defendant to receive a copy of their pre-sentence report, (prepared by the probation department for the Judge), at least 24 days before sentencing, and the defendant should be sentenced within 60 days of the change of plea date. In other words, that would have put Amy being sentenced around the the end of January 2023.
Looking back, I think it was the same day she entered her guilty plea (11/28/22), one of her lawyers withdrew from the case, and soon after, her other lawyer also withdrew! Both before sentencing could happen.
According to the docket, Amy didn't get a new lawyer until 2/1/23. So that probably explains why no sentencing date happened within 60 days after she changed her plea.
And this is where it gets strange, I vaguely recall the offer from the prosecutor for the change of plea to avoid Capital Murder by the State, had an expiration date, and the Court thought she missed the date to accept the plea when in fact she'd written to the Court seeking to represent herself and something happened to the letter that was beyond Amy's control???
It's all sealed now (court records) but maybe I have a copy or took notes about what I'd read. I can see where leaving a death penalty defendant without representation where a pending offer from the government had an expiration date, could cause some heads to roll!
I really don't know how else to explain why Amy's sentencing date would be delayed for 10 months other than it's not the fault of the defendant. JMO
ETA: OK, I found the letter by Amy to the Judge. I know the lead public defender on her case is located in AZ so that might explain why she only saw counsel twice in two years!
Since the deadline to accept the plea offer (estimated on October 24, 2022), or face having the feds dismiss her case and send it to be refiled as Capital Murder in the State of OK, Amy withdrew the request for new counsel and entered the change of plea on 11/28/22.
