BATON ROUGE, La., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards is hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on sentencing will reduce his 10-year prison term.
Edwards' attorneys believe the decision offers a glimmer of hope for their client, but they were also disappointed in part of the ruling, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
Edwards was convicted in May 2000 of extorting payoffs from casino executives seeking state riverboat gambling licenses.
It is unclear whether the ruling invalidating mandatory federal sentencing guidelines will be retroactive and only one part of the decision might apply to Edwards, the attorneys say.
One section of the opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, prohibits judges from adding time to a sentence for crimes the jury did not consider. Edwards' attorneys have argued that this happened in their client's case.
But another part of the ruling, written by Justice Stephen Breyer, said the guidelines could be used in an "advisory" way by judges, which might permit the Edwards sentencing.
