# iowa prisoner dies for a few seconds and was revive says he completed life sentence court disagrees **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2019, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170 "2019-11-08T10:00:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/21 "2019-11-09T12:24:21Z")
Hey, it is dead enough to activate a new slayer. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/22 "2019-11-09T13:28:19Z")
Judge: "But sir, now that you died, is your preference burial or cremation? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/23 "2019-11-09T13:51:13Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Judge: "But sir, now that you died, is your preference burial or cremation? There’s a variety of [body farms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm#University_research_facilities) to choose from. And who’s going to be sure if a “body” walked away or was 100% scavenged? Or a zombie “body” could live off of the other bodies there. It’d give researchers a whole new insight into the consumption practices of the life-challenged. I hear Zombie Biology is a real gut course. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/24 "2019-11-09T14:26:35Z")
He was just resting. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/25 "2019-11-09T14:49:43Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Was a death certificate issued? If not, not legally dead. That is exactly what the court said. The judges also said that the appellant’s claim to have been dead was “unpersuasive” as he had signed his own legal documents in the case. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/26 "2019-11-09T15:06:52Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Judge: "But sir, now that you died, is your preference burial or cremation? In New York, all prisoner deaths require an autopsy. That probably discourages people from seeking this route out of prison. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/27 "2019-11-09T15:15:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In New York, all prisoner deaths require an autopsy. That probably discourages people from seeking this route out of prison. “Cause of death appears to have been a large Y-shaped incision on the chest and abdomen.” ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/28 "2019-11-10T15:39:17Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > “Cause of death appears to have been a large Y-shaped incision on the chest and abdomen.” Not cardiac arrest brought on by hypothermia from storage pending examination? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/29 "2019-11-10T16:52:28Z")
Nah, his mom made him wear a sweater. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/30 "2019-11-10T22:24:45Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Not cardiac arrest brought on by hypothermia from storage pending examination? [You’re not dead until you’re warm and dead.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24882104) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/31 "2019-11-10T22:49:26Z")
Can you imagine the legal carnage that would ensue if heart cessation caused legal death, and ended things like mortgages, contracts, marriages, bank account access, user ID’s, property ownership… ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/32 "2019-11-11T01:38:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In New York, all prisoner deaths require an autopsy. That probably discourages people from seeking this route out of prison. The coroner who performed the autopsy on Elvis had this to say to people who claimed that Elvis was never really dead: “If he wasn’t dead beforehand, he sure was afterwards.” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/33 "2019-11-11T01:40:22Z")
As for the prisoner in this case, poor guy never stood a chance, but you can’t blame him for clutching at legal straws. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/34 "2019-11-11T12:13:18Z")
Has a prisoner ever asked to be released from his life sentence after experiencing la petite mort? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170/35 "2019-11-11T15:48:00Z")
He was probably pining for the fjords. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-prisoner-dies-for-a-few-seconds-and-was-revive-says-he-completed-life-sentence-court-disagrees/843170.md?page=1)