Carneal's Appeal Moved to December
By AP
LOUISVILLE, KY - A federal appeals court has set a new hearing date to take up the case of the convicted Heath High school shooter Michael Carneal.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati rescheduled 29-year-old Carneal's case for Dec. 5. The hearing had initially been set for Oct. 10.
The court will decide if Carneal waited too long to try and withdraw his guilty plea to killing three classmates and wounding five in 1997. A federal judge in Paducah ruled in August 2011 that Carneal could have acted sooner.
Carneal is serving life in prison with a chance at parole after 25 years. Carneal's attorneys say he wasn't mentally competent to plead guilty or withdraw the plea within the prescribed time limits.