The man doesn’t give up. Larry Craig filed a 27-page brief with the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday in a continued attempt to withdraw the guilty plea over his disorderly conduct conviction in June.
CNN reports: “Lawyers for Sen. Larry Craig asked a Minnesota appeals court Tuesday to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from his June arrest in a public bathroom sex sting, citing a ‘grave procedural flaw.’ The Idaho Republican argues that a state law related to his misdemeanor conviction is unconstitutional and that it’s ‘manifestly unjust’ not to allow him to be given another chance to prove his innocence.”
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on some of the details in the brief:
“In the 27-page brief, the lawyers note that one element of disorderly conduct requires that ‘the conduct at issue have a tendency to alarm or anger others.’ The brief noted the specific use of the plural ‘others.’ The senator was arrested during a layover between flights on June 11 by undercover officer Sgt. Dave Karsnia. He claimed the senator’s toe-tapping and hand motion in a men’s room stall were indications he wanted to have sex. Craig said he was picking up a piece of tissue on the floor and the gestures were misunderstood. Craig’s plea also fails to support the legal requirement that the conduct be ‘offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy,’ the brief said. The legal brief said that Karsnia could not be offended by the conduct because he invited it. The brief noted that in Karsnia’s own statement, he said Craig tapped his foot, then ‘Karsnia tapped his own foot in response.’ In the complaint against Craig, Karsnia noted that tapping feet is ‘a signal often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct,’ the brief said. ‘Thus Sergeant Karsnia undoubtedly intended that tapping his own foot be such a signal,’ the brief said.”
The paper adds: “Craig initially claimed he was pressured to plead guilty because of an investigation by the Idaho Statesman into his sexual orientation. The newspaper has since published the names of four men who claim to have had encounters of varying intimacy with the senator. Craig has declined to comment.”
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