LONDON (AP) — A British neonatal nurse who was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others has lost her bid to appeal.
Lucy Letby, 34, had asked for permission to challenge the verdict after she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison last year. A three-judge panel of Britain's Court of Appeal heard the case in April and released its decision on Friday.
“Having heard her application, we have decided to refuse leave to appeal on all grounds and refuse all associated applications,″ Judge Victoria Sharp said. “A full judgment will be handed down in due course.”
A jury at Manchester Crown Court had found her guilty of the crimes, which took place between June 2015 and June 2016 at the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwestern England.
Most defendants in British court cases don't have an automatic right to appeal. They must seek permission to appeal on a set of narrowly defined legal issues.
This undated handout issued by Cheshire Constabulary shows of nurse Lucy Letby. A British neonatal nurse who was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others has lost her bid to appeal. Lucy Letby had asked for permission to challenge the verdict after she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison last year. (Cheshire Constabulary via AP)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is scheduled to sign an executive order to issue 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions Monday, according to a news report.
The pardons will forgive low-level marijuana possession charges for an estimated 100,000 people. Moore, a Democrat, told The Washington Post Sunday night that criminal records have been used to deny housing, employment and education.
“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore said. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
Recreational cannabis was legalized in Maryland in 2023 after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022. Now, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis.
Moore plans to sign the executive order Monday morning in the state Capitol in Annapolis with Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown in attendance.
Brown, a Democrat, described the pardons as “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.”
“While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts — in a good way — Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown told the Post.
FILE - Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during a visit to SOUTH Restaurant & Jazz Club with President Joe Biden, on May 29, 2024, in Philadelphia. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is scheduled to sign an executive order to issue 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions at a news conference on Monday morning, June 17, 2024, a newspaper reported. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
