Sirhan Sirhan's Lawyers Claim Bullet was Switched
The lawyers representing the man convicted of killing Sen. Robert F. Kennedy filed an appeal to have the conviction overturned because they claim evidence was tampered with during the trial in 1968.
In the latest of numerous appeals, the filed court documents stipulate that the bullet that used during the trial was switched beforehand. The bullet that killed Kennedy was replaced to fit the gun Sirhan used and that forensic evidence can prove it. They also reasserted the claim that the assassin was programmed under hypnosis to carryout a diversion for the real killer.
Sirhan Sirhan is a Jordanian immigrant who was convicted of murder 43 years ago. William F. Pepper and Laurie Dusek are the lawyers representing Sirhan. They claim that new acoustic tests from a recording the night of the murder show that there were 13 shots fired that night from multiple guns. Sirhan only had a small handgun.
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Authorities are still arguing that there was only eight shots fired, three hitting Kennedy and the rest hitting the other victims.
"They put fabricated evidence into court before the judge and jury" said Pepper to the Associated Press. "We are satisfied that for the first time in 43 years of this case we think we have the evidence to set this conviction aside."
The claim by Pepper and Dusek relies greatly on the audio report by Philip Van Praag. He conducted the test from an audio recording that was made by a reporter during the shooting. Praag said there were 13 shots fired from multiple locations.
Appellate lawyer Dennis Fischer of Santa Monica said it's a “long shot in the longest way … but they certainly are raising intriguing questions."
Sirhan, who is now 67, was denied parole in March, although parole officials said, "He doesn’t understand the enormity of his crime."
His lawyers want the case set aside and Sirhan released so that he can be deported to Jordan, according to the Associated Press.
