Amy Bishop Will Not Be Tried For Brother's 1986 Shooting Death
CANTON (CBS/AP) - Amy Bishop will not be tried for the 1986 shooting death of her brother Seth in Braintree, prosecutors announced Friday.
Bishop was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole after she pleaded guilty to killing three colleagues and wounding three others at the University of Alabama in Hunstville in 2010.
"We will not move to have her returned to Massachusetts. The penalty we would seek for a first degree murder conviction is already in place," Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement Friday.
"By entering a nolle prosequi, the indictment is withdrawn without prejudice – meaning that if circumstances change, a prosecution could be initiated again."
Bishop's parents have said they believed their son's shooting death was an accident.
The incident had been ruled an accident back in 1986, but after the university shootings, an inquest was sought. That led to Amy Bishop's indictment in June 2010 for the killing of her brother.
Presuming that Bishop's guilty plea and sentence remain undisturbed in Alabama, it is unlikely that Norfolk County prosecutors will take additional action, Morrissey said.
"In almost all cases, guilty pleas mark the end of the process and the conviction is not vulnerable to being overturned on appeal," Morrissey said.
Morrissey said he came to his decision after consulting with his counterpart in Alabama, District Attorney Robert Broussard, about the details of the plea and its consequences.
Since Bishop will spend the rest of her life in prison, there is no issue of public safety, Morrissey said.
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