This archive report was first published on 10 November 2019.
Published on November 10, 2019, an appeals court in Iowa, United States, has dismissed a petition by a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder seeking to be released.
Benjamin Schreiber, the prisoner, argued that he completed his sentence when he “briefly died” in 2015 before being resuscitated against his will.
Mr. Schreiber was admitted to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in March 2015 with septic poisoning caused by large kidney stones.
According to his brother's directions, hospital staff were told to let him pass, but they resuscitated him instead, going against his do-not-resuscitate order on file with the Iowa Department of Corrections.
A three-judge panel dismissed his argument, stating that if he is still alive, he must remain in prison, or if he is actually dead, the appeal is moot.
The judges further stated that it would be irregular to set criminal defendants free whenever medical procedures during their incarceration lead to their resuscitation by medical professionals.
Mr. Schreiber was convicted of murder for killing a man with an axe handle in 1996.
