AG Biden appeals Cooke conviction reversal
By Frank Gerace

State Attorney General Beau Biden's appealing the state Supreme Court's reversal of a high-profile murder conviction to the US Supreme Court.

James Cooke was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2005 murder of University of Delaware student Lindsey Bonistall.

The state Supreme Court ruled in July of this year that the trial judge should have intervened on Cooke's behalf when his lawyers at the time entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill, a plea Cooke's current defense team says Cooke never wanted to enter.

The Court's ruling calls for a new trial for Cooke, and Attorney General Biden is asking the US Supreme Court to review the case.

Biden says he expects Cooke's lawyers to file a response to the state's appeal early next year, and for the High Court to rule "in due course".

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