World of the Bizarre

Inmate who 'died' says he's served life sentence

By T.K. Randall
November 12, 2019

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) What exactly does it mean when you are made to serve a life sentence ? Does 'life' really mean 'life' ?

It's a question that was recently at the center of a court case involving Benjamin Schreiber - a 66-year-old man who was jailed for life back in 1996 after he bludgeoned John Dale Terry to death.

In 2015 however, Schreiber suffered severe septic poisoning due to complications from kidney stones. He was rushed to hospital where his heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated.

After recovering from his ordeal, Schreiber began to contend that, because he had 'died', he had actually served his life sentence and was now being held illegally at the prison.His case was brought before a district court judge who stated that he found this argument "unpersuasive and without merit" given that Schreiber was still very much alive.

More recently, the case was brought before the Court of Appeals, again without success.

"We do not believe the legislature intended this provision [...] to set criminal defendants free whenever medical procedures during their incarceration lead to their resuscitation by medical professionals," said Judge Amanda Potterfield.

"Schreiber is either alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is dead, in which case this appeal is moot."

As things stand, it doesn't look as though Schreiber will be getting out anytime soon.

Source: Science Alert

Tags: Life, Prison