Larry Craig Drops Further Appeal

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has reached the end of the road in his effort to reverse his conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting, one of his lawyers said Thursday.

Attorney Tom Kelly said Craig had decided against asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to void the conviction. The decision means the legal wrangling in the case is over.

"We've concluded that the Supreme Court would not accept this for review," Kelly said. "It would be a futile exercise."

Thursday was the 30-day deadline for Craig to ask the high court to review a Minnesota Court of Appeals decision that went against him. The Supreme Court typically grants only about 25 percent to 30 percent of those requests, according to court figures.

The Idaho Republican was arrested June 11, 2007, by an undercover police officer conducting a sting operation against men cruising for sex at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The senator quietly pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine, but changed his mind after word of his arrest later became public.

As his political career disintegrated, Craig insisted he was innocent and that he was not gay. He said the officer had misconstrued his foot-tapping actions in the airport bathroom.

Last month, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected Craig's bid to withdraw his guilty plea. It affirmed a lower court decision that his plea was "accurate, voluntary and intelligent" and that it was supported by the evidence.

Craig did not seek re-election in November for the seat he had held for 18 years. He was succeeded Tuesday by political veteran Jim Risch, a Republican former lieutenant governor, governor and state senator.

Comments

[Bompa]

Well Larry.... That worked out well for you....... Thou doth protest to much... and it bit you in the @ss!

[dlarocca]

so Mr. wide stance actually admits he knows what the definition of guilty means... and I would hope an elected senator would know what that word means

I like the Ted Haggard story better... doing meth with the male prostitute... and then claims he is 100% heterosexual

[StopDU]

In case you haven't seen it... one of the funniest videos I've ever seen!
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/larrycraig/v/larrycraigymca.htm

[sammy cole]

No one knows for sure what really went on with former Senator Craig, all we have to do is look to the fact that many folks are arrested, prosecuted, make deals when they're innocent to avoid trials that could result in potential sentences. Im completely neutral on Larry Craig, I wish him well in retirement...and far more interested in solutions from the New incoming Barack Obama Administration. Larry Craigs bathroom manners could have been misunderstood entirely.

[pab08]

That is a very well thought out statement. Perhaps the most intelligent comment yet on this issue.

However, it is no fun at all! I would rather more jokes about how Larry is quitting the fight because he is all petered out.

[ihavehope]

bye-bye Larry! (wave hand under toilet stall)

[filo]

Can you spare a square ??

[Tom Joad]

LMAO!

[Grannysue]

The Toe Tapper throws in the towel, good now maybe I won't have to read about him or hear about him on the news, of course were still being led by the GOP here in good old Idaho. The greedy old pedophiles and pimps that's what they are.

[trucap]

i feel sorry for him , i hope he will be treated with mercy, and move on .

[Topsailsman]

I hope he gets exactly the amount of mercy that he has given to others. Not much.

[Topsailsman]

Cheer up Larry, you may be remembered more for being one of the conservative trolls that wrecked America than for being a hypocritical closeted g@y man.

[ConcernedAmerican]

Dear Larry,

Suc#ing Dyck in public restrooms does in fact make you g a y.

Yours truly,

Captain Obvious.

[Tom Joad]

Holy Acrimony, Captain Obvious! It doesn't make you g@y so much as a deviant. I'm sure there are many g@ys who find this public behavior rep.ug.nant, too. Let's not cast the whole lot as pervs.

[pab08]

Hmmm I guess he is tired of fighting - petered out?

[Okieborn]

Come On Out Of The "CLOSET" Larry Boy !!!
America Will Forgive You !!!!!

[runnerin1]

"I am not gay, I have never been gay"
-Larry

[Zen0469]

The stall in the Minneapolis Airport bathroom should be enshrined in the Nation's Historical Registry. A shiny brass plaque bearing a senatorial logo and the words "Senator Larry Craig Memorial Stall" would be a nice memento.

[Felicty]

Do give up, sweetie.

Come OUT of that closet.

[swensonj]

Just when we thought Craig's appeal couldn't drop further...

[crank]

Larry the fairy giving up?
He is going back to Idaho to open up a tap dancing school.

[Tom Joad]

OMG - this gave me a vision of LC being a contestant on 'Dancing with the Stars' next season; pair him up with that hottie, Derek.