Lawyer: Caleb Fairley's Appeal is 'Frivolous'

Carl Hessler of the Pottstown Mercury reports that a public defender assigned to Caleb Fairley's appeal has told both Fairley and the judge overseeing the appeal that the appeal "lacks any basis in either law or fact and is, therefore, frivolous."

Montgomery County Assistant Public Defender Timothy Wile, who was appointed to represent Fairley after the appeal was filed on September 17, told Judge William R. Carpenter in court filings that the appeal is "legally without merit."

Wile has asked to be allowed to withdraw from the case. 

Fairley was convicted of the murders of Lisa and Devon Manderach in 1996. His appeal relies heavily on a June Supreme Court decision that made mandatory life sentences for juvenile homicide offenders unconstitutional.

Fairley claims that, as he was 21 years old at the time of the murders, he should have been sentenced as a juvenile because a person is still developing mentally and emotionally at age 21, much like a younger person. 

Fairley is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole.