Nugent family asks court to reconsider Bernie Tiede's re-sentencing

(KLTV) - The family of murder victim, Margorie Nugent, filed an amicus brief and motion for a rehearing with the Texas Court of Appeals today.

The brief comes in the wake of last week's opinion by the Court of Appeals that granted that Bernie Tiede's life sentence be set aside. Tiede was sentenced to life in prison in 1999 for the 1996 murder of his 81-year-old companion.

The amicus brief argues that the Court of Appeals' decision last week allows criminal defendants like Tiede to game the system.

"[T]here is not one shred of evidence in the record that Tiede suppressed memory of the abuse, or that he was 'incapable of revealing the memories to anyone at his trial,'" the brief reads.

The Court referenced in its opinion that the decision to re-sentence Tiede was based in part on the new information that Tiede was the victim of childhood and adulthood abuse.

Ultimately, Nugent's family asks the Court to withdraw its judgment and to hold a rehearing on the issue of sentencing.

The amicus brief allows the Nugent family to formally present their feelings about Tiede's position to the judges, though the family is not a party to the criminal proceedings.

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