Larry Craig Appeals Minnesota Decision

Just when America thought perhaps the Sen. Larry Craig restroom saga was over, the senator from Idaho last week filed papers in the Minnesota Court of Appeals in his continuing quest to clear his name.

At the same time, Craig is gearing up for a Senate Ethics Committee review of his arrest — and using campaign funds to pay for representation for both.

In late September, Hennepin County District Court Judge Charles Porter denied Craig’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from a June arrest in aMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport restroom. Last Monday, Craig’s lawyers filed papers to appeal that decision.

Craig’s appeal, as well as numerous media appearances, has kept the restroom scandal in the public eye much longer than congressional Republicans had hoped. The promise of Craig’s Sept. 30 resignation has been broken, and the Senate committee is meeting to decide how to proceed.

What does the appeal mean and how likely is it that Craig would prevail?
“What’s the likelihood of success? Even less likely of prevailing in the appeal than he had in prevailing before Porter,” Steve Simon, a legal defense expert at the University of Minnesota Law School told the Associated Press.

Craig’s lawyers will have to argue that Porter abused his discretion in denying Craig’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

According to the Minnesota Court of Appeals Standards of Review, “[T]he ‘ultimate decision’ of whether to allow withdrawal under the `fair and just’ standard is `left to the sound discretion of the trial court, and it will be reversed only in the rare case in which the appellate court can fairly conclude that the trial court abused its discretion.’” 

It is not clear how Craig’s lawyers will attempt to argue that Porter abused his discretion.

Local lawyers don’t see them having an easy time making the case to overturn Porter’s ruling, and appeals of this nature are very difficult.  “It’s not frequent, let’s put it that way,” attorney Ron Meshbesher told the AP. “It certainly is a steep hill to climb.”

The appeal’s process could take many, many months, possibly a year or more. And while that is occurring, Craig will be fighting the Senate Ethics Committee to clear his name there as well. Craig has used $23,000 in campaign funds to hire prominent Washington lawyer Stan Brand, who will represent him in the committee investigation. The FEC allows such expenses, given they are related to Senate activities.

Craig’s spokesman Dan Whiting told Politico that he would also be using campaign funds to cover the court costs in Minnesota.

A copy of Craig’s appeal filing is available at the Minnesota Appellate Court website.