Battle over freeing 1970s rapist in Md.
A federal judge has ruled that a former teacher convicted of raping one of his students in the mid-1970s should be offered a plea deal that would get him out of prison.
Baltimore prosecutors, however, are vowing to keep John Merzbacher behind bars, and the Maryland attorney general's office says it will appeal the ruling.
The judge on Friday ruled that Merzbacher had ineffective counsel because he wasn't given a chance to accept a 10-year plea deal in 1994. The ruling requires a Baltimore judge to agree to the deal.
Merzbacher taught at the Catholic Community School in Baltimore. He was accused of molesting more than a dozen children, but those charges were dropped when he was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to four life terms.
-- The Baltimore Sun
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Washington Post Editors
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August 3, 2010; 10:38 AM ET
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Posted by: bperk420 | August 3, 2010 11:20 AM | Report abuse
I wonder how old this guy is now. since the crimes occured in the mid 70's, he could be elderly enough by now so not to be a risk of harm to anyone. it's also been scientifically shown that people age faster in prison, and now our aging elderly prison population is costing us a lot of money.
so it would be nice to know his age to formulate an opinion on his release.
Posted by: MarilynManson | August 3, 2010 11:33 AM | Report abuse
I don't give a d... how old he is he raped and molested children period end of sentence!!!
Posted by: rlj611 | August 3, 2010 12:58 PM | Report abuse
rl1611 - I am so with you. This disguisting freak should never be allowed out. The US has better get on the stick, pass legislation and make raping a child punishable by death. Period. End of story!
Posted by: gladiatorgal | August 3, 2010 5:55 PM | Report abuse
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Judges without common sense are a big problem. A child molester should never be allowed out of jail.