It's extremely difficult to empathize with a defendant found guilty of moving to Cambodia in order to repeatedly rape children. That's true whether (as here) those children were under 12 or, as defendant contends, slightly older (e.g., 13). The stark reality is that the nature of the crimes, as well as the number of children involved, isn't exactly conducive to wanting to reach out and reverse his convictions.
Now, the sentence imposed on the guy here -- Michael Pepe -- is an extraordinarily long one: 210 years. (Judge VanDyke's opinion today nowhere mentions this sentence, whereas Judge Nguyen's opinion from five years go, which reversed and remanded Pepe's original conviction, does. I suspect that it's not entirely coincidental that opinions that reverse convictions often mention the incredibly long sentence imposed whereas opinion that affirm often do the opposite.) Plus, the guy's old now: according to the Bureau of Prisons, 69. (Also not in the opinion.)
But for most people, neither of those facts will really get the heart pumping to try to reverse in a case like this.
Times a thousand when the panel consists, as here, of Judges Randy Smith, Lee and VanDyke.
Anyway, the Ninth Circuit affirms his conviction after the retrial. So Mr. Pepe will almost certainly die in prison.
Fairly soon, I expect. Life expectancy in prison not being extraordinarily long. (Perhaps particularly for those convicted of raping children.)
