No pardon for Billythe Kid

Governor Refuses Pardon For Outlaw Billy The Kid
The rehabilitation of Billy the Kid lies dead in the dust. In one of his last official acts — or non-acts — before leaving office, New Mexico's Governor refused to pardon the Old West outlaw Friday for one of the many murders he committed before he was gunned down in 1881. Gov. Bill Richardson cited ambiguity surrounding the pledge of a pardon 130 years ago as the reason. "I felt I could not rewrite history," Richardson told The Associated Press, hours after announcing his decision o...

No pardon for Billy the Kid, says outgoing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday shot down  Billy the Kid's chances for a pardon. In front of a national audience on ABC's "Good Morning America," the Democratic Governor, on his last day in office, said that the legendary outlaw would not be posthumously pardoned. "I have decided not to pardon Billy the Kid because of a lack of conclusiveness, and also the historical ambiguity as to why Governor Wallace reneged on his pardon," Richardson said of the ...

No pardon for 'cop killer' Billy the Kid
New Mexico's Governor yesterday dismissed the idea of granting a posthumous pardon to Billy the Kid, ending 130 years of wrangling over the status of one of the Wild West's most notorious outlaws. Eight years after promising to give the matter consideration, and just hours before his term in office expired, Governor Bill Richardson announced he had decided not to grant Clemency to the legendary gunslinger, who gained folk hero status despite k ADVERTISEMENT illing at least eight people. He was...

Gov. Richardson passes on Billy the Kid pardon on his last day
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) has decided not to pardon iconic Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid for killing a County Sheriff, he said Friday. Richardson announced his decision on ABC's "Good Morning America" Friday, his last day as Governor. The pardon has been media fodder for several years after Albuquerque defense attorney Randi McGinn filed a petition for the pardon and volunteered to handle the case free of charge. McGinn argued that Gov. Lew Wallace, the territorial governor 130 year...

Pardon for Billy the Kid gets shot down
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced Friday he will not grant a pardon to infamous Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid. Richardson, who has been mulling the pardon since he first became governor in 2002, made the announcement on ABC's Good Morning America on his last day in office. There are reports that 130 years ago, territorial governor Lew Wallace promised the Kid — whose real name was William Bonney, though he was also known by Henry McCarty and Henry Antrim — a pardon in ex...

No Pardon For Billy The Kid, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Says
SANTA FE, N.M. — Billy the Kid, the Old West outlaw who killed at least three lawmen and tried to cut a deal from jail with territorial authorities, won't be pardoned, Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday, nearly 130 years after the gunslinger's death. The prospect of a pardon for the notorious frontier figure drew international attention to New Mexico, centering on whether Billy the Kid had been promised a pardon from New Mexico's territorial Governor in return for Testimony in killings he ...

Billy the Kid is no Jim Morrison: Gov. Bill Richardson refuses to pardon that other mythic outlaw
Democrats are often accused of being soft on Crime, while Republicans usually see themselves as the opposite. But when it comes to dealing with pardons for dead figues, all bets are off. On his last day in office Friday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, announced that he will not pardon the mythic western outlaw, Billy the Kid. Earlier this month, outgoing Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida successfully pushed for a pardon for the late Jim Morrison, lead singer for the Doors r...

NM gov. declines to pardon outlaw Billy the Kid
SANTA FE, N.M. — Billy the Kid, the Old West outlaw who killed at least three lawmen and tried to cut a deal from jail with territorial authorities, won’t be pardoned, Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday, nearly 130 years after the gunslinger’s death. The prospect of a pardon for the notorious frontier figure drew international attention to New Mexico, centering on whether Billy the Kid had been promised a pardon from New Mexico’s territorial Governor in return for Testimony...

Quote of the Day
Yahoo! Buzz “It was a very close call. I’ve been working on this for eight years. The romanticism appealed to me to issue a pardon, but the facts and the evidence did not support it, and I’ve got to be responsible especially when a Governor is issuing pardons.” — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson tells ABC’s Good Morning America about his decision not to pardon Billy the Kid. For more on the decision click here and for WSJ reporter Stephanie Simon’s story on...

No Pardon For Billy The Kid
Gov. Bill Richardson has declined to pardoned Old West outlaw Billy the Kid, who was shot to death in 1881 after escaping jail where he awaited hanging in the killing of a sheriff. The prospect of a pardon for the notorious frontier figure drew international attention to New Mexico, centering on whether Billy the Kid had been promised a pardon from New Mexico's territorial Governor in return for Testimony in killings he had witnessed. The facts of the case didn't support a pardon, Richardson sai...

Live On GMA: Bill Richardson Denies Pardon To Billy The Kid
Sorry, Billy, it’s just not going to happen. Live on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning, outgoing New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson ended speculation about a potential pardon for notorious outlaw Billy the Kid , saying Why, Richardson was asked, is this even on the Governor’s last-day-in-office agenda? “This is American history, this is New Mexico’s history, this is the historical record” Richardson said, referring to a long-standing question-y...

No Pardon for The Kid
Boy, New Mexico Governors really stick together . . . even after 130 years. On his last day in office, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico refused to pardon Billy the Kid for the killing of Sheriff William Brady in Lincoln County, New Mexico despite his conclusion that William H. Bonney was indeed promised such a pardon by then Governor Lew Wallace. Billy the Kid fulfilled his part of the bargain with Wallace. He surrendered and agreed to testify before a Grand Jury in another killing. However, W...

Short Takes
New York and New Mexico have new Governors this morning. Outgoing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson denied Billy the Kid a posthumous pardon. North Korea would like to cool things off with everybody else. A bomb in Egypt killed 21 people outside a church. Stormy weather, including thunderstorms and tornadoes, killed six in Arkansas and Missouri. Finally final: Joe Miller concedes the Senate race in Alaska. The state had already certified Lisa Murkowski. Travel Light: Florida's new lieutenant gove...

No pardon for Billy the Kid
SANTA FE, N.M., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, on his final day in office Friday, did not pardon legendary outlaw Billy the Kid. "It was a very close call," Richardson said from his office in Santa Fe when announcing he "decided not to pardon Billy the Kid," one of New Mexico's more infamous native sons, on ABC's "Good Morning America." Richardson said his decision was based in part on ambiguity surrounding the record in which territorial Gov. Lew Wallace agreed to pardon Bill...

Quote Unquote: Billy the Kid Just Can't Catch a Break
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson gives his reasoning for the very important decision he made today… "I've decided not to pardon Billy the Kid because of a lack of conclusiveness and the historical ambiguity as to why Governor Wallace reneged on his pardon." I can't really come up with a better response to this than commenter Not Adam Schramm , so I'll just let him carry this one… "I guess if he decides to run for office again in the future he doesn'...

No pardon for Billy the Kid from NM Gov Bill Richardson
On his last day in office, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has put to rest the speculation about him possibly pardoning Henry McCarty, AKA Billy the Kid. The pardon was being considered because of a request by Randi McGinn, a New Mexico Trial Lawyer, who petitioned for a pardon based on research she had done on the claims that the Kid was promised a pardon, but never received it. Richardson took careful consideration about if he would grant the pardon by placing the facts of the case that Mc...

Do You Think Billy the Kid Should Have Been Pardoned?
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson turned down a pardon Friday for the Old West outlaw Billy the Kid, who was shot to death in 1881 after escaping jail where he awaited hanging in the killing of a sheriff. Richardson had considered the pardon after a petition for pardon was submitted by a local lawyer, who claimed New Mexico's then-territorial Governor had promised to free the outlaw in return for Testimony about other killings. Richardson said there was no written evidence of a promise to pardon. ...

Billy The Kid Pardon?
Outgoing New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has a tough decision to make before his term ends Friday night. Should he or shouldn't pardon a notorious murderer? The fact that the Murder happened in 1878 doesn't make the decision any easier. That's when Billy the Kid and a few others ambushed and gunned down Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady. The Kid was eventually arrested, convicted and sentenced to hang for Brady's murder. While awaiting execution in a makeshift jail in the Lincoln County C...

On his last day in office, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson reveals that he will not pardon Billy the Kid.
The NYT reports a "sigh of relief." ...

Supervisors 'wanted to send a message to the mayor'
New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran talks to "American Morning" about allegations that union workers slowed the cleanup of the blizzard-socked city to get back at Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Watch American Morning weekdays 6am to 9am ET. For the latest from American Morning click here. Click here to cancel reply. “This Just In” is CNN's news blog. This is where you will find the latest news and information from CNN’s correspondents and sources around the world...

Billy the Kid fails to win posthumous pardon
Is Billy The Kid about to be pardoned? Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid will not receive a posthumous pardon for killing a County Sheriff in 1878, the Governor of the US state of New Mexico has said. Bill Richardson had been asked to pardon the infamous 19th Century bandit in order to fulfil a promise supposedly made in exchange for court Testimony. But Mr Richardson told US TV that Billy the Kid's name - linked to as many as 27 Murders - would not be cleared. Billy the Kid was shot to death ...

Billy the Kid Comes Near Pardon, Misses Again
Photo: Getty Images Near the close of his Second Term as Governor, New Mexico's Bill Richardson came close to making good on a 2003 pledge to potentially pardon Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid. A history buff, Richardson had looked into a promise from former governor Lee Wallace to Billy in 1879 to pardon the gunslinger in exchange for Testimony before a Grand Jury in an unrelated Murder trial. But Wallace never followed through in the end. "I've decided not to pardon Billy the Kid because of a...

No pardon for Billy the Kid
Bill Richardson's last decision: Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico announced on Friday that he would not pardon Billy the Kid, prompting a sigh of relief from descendants of the sheriff who killed the Old West outlaw as well as the frontier Governor who appeared to hold out the possibility of Clemency about a century ago. Interviewed on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on his f...

Billy the Kid Remains an Outlaw: New Mexico Governor Won't Pardon Him
As Bob Dylan said in song, "Billy, they don't like you to be so free." New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday he will not pardon the legendary Wild West outlaw William Bonney -- better known as Billy the Kid -- because the historical record about another Governor's promise to do so is ambiguous. "It was a very close call," Richardson told ABC's "Good Morning America." "I've been working on this for eight years." Descendants of Sheriff Pat Garrett, the lawman who gunned down Billy the Kid in...

Viking Pundit
Slow news day, NY Times? - Breaking news from New Mexico! "No pardon for Billy the Kid." Now nobody can say that Bill Richardson is soft on 19th-century crime, so you can just forget about it Henry Wirz. ...