WJZ
August 5, 2009
http://wjz.com/local/john.merzbacher.2.784040.html
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| A former Baltimore Catholic school teacher serving a life sentence for raping a student went before a judge Wednesday asking to be released immediately. |
A former Baltimore Catholic school teacher serving a life sentence for raping a student went before a judge Wednesday asking to be released immediately.
Suzanne Collins explains John Merzbacher's legal appeal.
Merzbacher says his lawyer didn't tell him about a plea bargain offer of just 10 years in prison in return for a guilty plea. He went to trial and got a life sentence instead.
John Merzbacher is serving life in prison after a conviction for rape and child abuse in 1995. A number of his former students long before at the Catholic Community Middle School came forth after years of silence.
"I'm just grateful for this verdict. He's off the street and I hope other children will be safe and I encourage people, no matter how difficult, to come forward," said Liz Murphy in 1995.
Murphy testified about being raped by Merzbacher at age 10 in a storage room at the school. Now after hoping to move on, she suddenly learned Merzbacher is back in court, trying to get out of prison.
"The fact that he's been incarcerated doesn't erase the horrible memory of the numerous times he raped me, of the sex crimes he committed against me," Murphy said.
Merzbacher's lawyer at trial was Christina Guiterrez, who has since died. He claims she was incompetent for not telling him of a plea bargain offered by prosecutors in which he would just serve 10 years in prison. Instead, he went to trial and got life.
At the time, he claimed he was innocent.
"I just have one statement to say. I didn't do any of these things and all I want is a fair trial to clear my name," he said.
Before her death, Guiterrez testified in a lower court she had not told Merzbacher of the plea offer, but that judge denied the appeal, saying he didn't believe it and wouldn't have approved it anyway.
"What we're asking is for the court to allow him to plead guilty and get the 10 year sentence that was offered to him," his current lawyer, Mark Spickel, said.
Because he has served over 10 years in prison, that would effectively get him released immediately.
The judge, Andre Davis, says he doesn't know how he will rule but that he is troubled by the legal issues in this case. He says he will make a decision by mid-September.
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