Gilberto Valle, a former NYPD officer who was convicted last March after his plan to kidnap, murder, and eat women was discovered last year, had his conviction overturned by a federal judge.
The New York Times reports that Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Paul G. Gardephe ruled yesterday that there was insufficient evidence to convict Valle. "The evidentiary record is such that it is more likely than not the case that all of Valle’s Internet communications about kidnapping are fantasy role-play," he wrote in a 118-page opinion. Valle's attorney argued the same last year.
Noting that Valle had yet to be sentenced, the the Times adds that his public defenders requested a new trial from Gardephe on the grounds that he had the right to "fantasize about whatever and whomever [he likes], free from government interference."
However, a lesser charge for the use of a police database for research purposes will remain. While the original conviction would've relegated Valle to life in prison, his future is now uncertain.
[via New York Times]
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