Amy Bishop murder trial (countdown)

Barring anymore legal wrangling by Amy Bishop's defense team, there is (finally) less than a month remaining until her trial for the Huntsville Massacre is slated to begin. The matter has been calendared for September 24th 2012.

Team Bishop has succeeded in putting off judgment day for well over a year now. However, with their most recent motion and appeal denied, there can be little else left for them to do but to proceed as directed--and to do so without expert testimony, if they must.

Expert medical testimony in support of her insanity plea is at the crux of Dr. Bishop's defense woes: She's lost her livelihood as a result of gunning her colleagues down at the University of Alabama, and, as an indigent in the court system, her lawyers contend she needs the fees for expert opinions paid up front.

The court has said no way, and the appeal of that decision was upheld last month.

 

Declaring yourself "not guilty of murder be reason of insanity" is a difficult defense to prove at best, let alone without doctors supporting the contention, so, rest assured, if Bishop gets sentenced to death in Alabama for lack of this required testimony, there will be mountains of appeals filed in hopes of having that verdict vacated.

 

So stay tuned. This should be an interesting contest, possibly paving the way for Bishop's separate trial in Massachusetts for the 1986 murder of her brother Seth. The date of which, like her fate, is still uncertain. 

Find the complete case study HERE