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Supreme Court turns away ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic’s appeal of murder-for-hire conviction
Joe Exotic’s 21-year sentence for hiring hitmen to kill Carole Baskin remains after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal citing insufficient new evidence, court records show.
- On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Joseph Maldonado-Passage's appeal, leaving his 21-year sentence for the 2019 murder-for-hire conviction intact and ending his latest bid to overturn the verdict involving rival Carole Baskin.
- Maldonado-Passage was convicted in 2019 of hiring two men, including an undercover FBI agent, to kill Baskin; the 'Tiger King' star sought a retrial in 2023, claiming witnesses recanted testimony and new evidence had emerged.
- U.S. District Judge Scott Palk noted that Maldonado-Passage's own words served as "the most credible and damning evidence" against him during a prior retrial effort, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal in July.
- Defense attorneys argued that lower courts failed to properly weigh evidence; meanwhile, the 62-year-old has made headlines for his personal life, including a 2024 marriage to fellow inmate Jorge Flores Maldonado at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
- With Supreme Court avenues now closed, the 21-year prison term remains in effect for the former zoo operator, while Carole Baskin continues her wildlife advocacy work outside prison.
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Supreme Court refuses to hear case of Louisiana man sentenced to life imprisonment, “Tiger King” appeal
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to weigh in on a procedural question arising from a pregnancy discrimination case – specifically, whether a defendant can raise an affirmative defense (that is, a legal excuse or justification) later in the proceedings when it did not raise that defense in the answer to the plaintiff’s complaint. Younge v. Fulton Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office was the lone case in which the court granted review on …
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Leaning Left2Leaning Right4Center25Last UpdatedBias Distribution81% Center
Bias Distribution
- 81% of the sources are Center
81% Center
C 81%
13%
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