An American man accused of insurance fraud has been acquitted by a panel of judges, one of whom decided to write his ruling in rhyme.
Although the defendant was convicted of depositing a false check from an insurance company, a conviction of a separate charge of insurance fraud was overturned on appeal. That led Justice J Michael Eakin of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to issue a six page ruling written entirely in rhyming verse.
It concluded:
"Sentenced on the other crimes, he surely won't go free,
but we find he can't be guilty of this final felony.
Convictions for the forgery and theft are approbated.
The sentence for insurance fraud, however, is vacated.
The case must be remanded for resentencing, we find,
so the trial judge may impose the result he originally had in mind."
("Approbated" means the original verdict is officially sanctioned by the Supreme Court.)
The full ruling is available at http://www.pacourts.us/OpPosting/Supreme/out/J-24-2011oaj.pdf
