Delayed Sentencing

The state supreme court will have to weigh in on the case of an admitted rapist who`s gone unsentenced for 6 years. In October 1997, Michael Shane Jolly admitted to having consensual sex with a 12 year old girl. He entered a guilty plea in the matter, but sentencing never came. Earlier this year, new county prosecutor Robert Herzfeld discovered the delay in Jolly`s case when he took office. Defense attorneys tried to argue in court today that sentencing was inlcuded in a defendant`s right to a speedy trial. Judge Grisham Phillips disagreed and refused to dimiss the case on that basis. Now Jolly`s lawyers have filed a writ of prohibition with the state supreme court. They allege that because of the delay, Saline county no longer has jurisidiction for sentencing in this case. Unless the high court takes action, Jolly will finally face punishment at 9am Monday. The 12 year old was placed into foster care after Jolly`s guilty plea. She has moved out of state and has not been a part of the effort to have him sentenced.