Overview
- The Supreme Court, which denied review Monday, closed off Joe Exotic’s latest bid to overturn his case.
- Joseph Maldonado-Passage is serving 21 years after a 2019 conviction for plotting to have Carole Baskin killed and for wildlife crimes under federal law.
- Prosecutors said he offered $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent in a recorded 2017 meeting and gave instructions on how to carry out the killing.
- His lawyers argue witnesses later recanted and say prosecutors hid immunity deals, but the Tenth Circuit ruled the new claims would not change the verdict and lower courts refused a new trial.
- With further appeals blocked, he can only seek presidential clemency, which he has already requested without success, and the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case does not judge the merits.