ATLANTA — A federal appeals court dashed the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombers' hopes of getting a lighter sentence in a 24-page ruling published Monday.
Starting with the notorious 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Eric Rudolph was accused of carrying out two other bombings in Georgia and another in Alabama. All told, his bombing spree killed three and injured over a hundred others, court documents show.
Almost seven years after the first bombing, Rudolph was arrested in 2003.
But in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not pursue the death penalty, Rudolph agreed to plead guilty to all charges. The deal likely spared Rudolph his life, but it meant he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
He was sentenced to six life sentences and 120 years in prison.
But despite his guilty plea, Rudolph claims he is, in fact, innocent of the crimes he pleaded guilty to.
In court filings, Rudolph pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision that he hoped could help him get out of prison early.
One of the crimes Rudolph pleaded guilty to was a federal arson statute. But he also pleaded guilty to another associated crime: carrying a firearm — his bombs — during a crime of violence, or the arson charges.
However, in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v Davis that arson did not constitute "a crime of violence," the opinion said.
Since the law he was convicted under had been vacated, Rudolph reasoned, his conviction on those charges should be vacated, too. He requested the counts of carrying a firearm be thrown out and a sentencing hearing be held on the remaining counts against him.
Instead of focusing on those arguments, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals turned to a single section of his guilty plea: Rudolph's agreement to waive "the right to appeal his conviction and sentence in this case... on any ground."
Because of that, there was nothing they could do.
"Eric Rudolph is bound by the terms of his own bargain," the court wrote in its decision. "He negotiated to spare his life, and in return, he waived the right to collaterally attack his sentences in any post-conviction proceedings. We will not disrupt that agreement."
The decision was made by a panel of three federal judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals based out of Atlanta.
Rudolph's case was previously heard in U.S. district courts in both Alabama and Georgia — since Rudolph pleaded guilty in both states for separate bombings — but they were consolidated in the 11th Circuit for his appeal.
Both district courts also rejected Rudolph's arguments, pointing to his decision to waive his right to appeal.
However, Rudolph could appeal his case to the Supreme Court arguing the court's reasoning was wrong, who could choose to either take the case or leave the decision of the 11th Circuit in place.