Once the defendant's chance to appeal has been waived or exhausted, however, we are entitled to presume he stands fairly and finally convicted, especially when, as here, he already has had a fair opportunity to present his federal claims to a federal forum.
That obligation qualifies what the Court characterizes as our entitlement to presume that the defendant has been fairly and finally convicted.
"The defendant has been fairly tried, lawfully convicted and properly sentenced, and any 'remedy' provided for this will do nothing but undo the just results of a fair adversarial process".
Still, questions again surfaced about whether judges with such latitude would treat convicted defendants fairly.
The corruption Mr. Minor was charged with was disturbingly vague, as it was with Ms. Thompson, whose only "crime" was awarding a contract to the lowest bidder, and Mr. Siegelman, who was convicted for fairly routine political behavior.
It helped that Oregon already made it fairly easy for people convicted of minor crimes to get them set aside, she said.
It's pretty much a given that I'd be arrested on the spot, earn a no-brainer arraignment, and get convicted in a fairly open-and-shut case.
The same can fairly be said about state prisoners convicted in at least 14 other States listed in Appendix A-II to this opinion and federal prisoners convicted in 6 federal judicial circuits listed in Appendix B-II.
For justice to prevail, however, it is not enough for suspects to be arrested; they must also be fairly tried and, when proved guilty, convicted.
Whether the court has the authority to order Gianforte submit to fingerprinting and photographs is an "open question," King-Ries said, but requiring such actions for convicted defendants is "probably fairly standard operating procedure".
