Craig attorneys ask Appeals Court to correct 'manifest injustice'

(AP) - Attorneys for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig are asking that the Minnesota Court of Appeals correct a "manifest injustice" and allow the Idaho Republican to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from a bathroom sex sting.

In a 23-page document filed Tuesday, plus appendices, Craig's attorneys asked the appellate judges to reverse the trial court's decision to let Craig's guilty plea stand. They also asked that Craig's guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge be vacated.

Craig was arrested in June in a bathroom stall at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. An undercover officer said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a way that signaled he wanted sex.

The senator was arrested in a broader sweep targeting men soliciting sex in the airport's bathrooms.

After news of his arrest became public in August, Craig denied wrongdoing. He insisted his actions were misconstrued and said he wasn't gay. He said he pleaded guilty and paid a fine hoping to resolve the matter quietly.

He later tried to withdraw his guilty plea, but a Hennepin County judge refused.

Tuesday's filing is the latest in a string of back-and-forth court filings on the case. The document repeats many arguments that Craig's attorneys made before, including claims that the lower court abused its discretion and that the guilty plea is invalid because there is no factual basis for a disorderly conduct charge.

Craig's behavior as he looked into a bathroom stall was "consistent with the conduct of an innocent person waiting for one of the occupied stalls to clear," the attorneys wrote.

They also noted that the state's disorderly conduct statute refers to "others" - and that Craig's actions did not affect multiple victims.

Prosecutors have said in court documents that the judge did not abuse his discretion. They also have argued that Craig's attorneys are misinterpreting the state disorderly conduct statute, and that the arresting officer may be the only person present.

Defense attorneys argued that even though Craig may have pleaded guilty to avoid publicity and face a more serious charge, that doesn't change the fact that the plea is inaccurate.

"The prosecuted conduct, that is, the conduct the State has alleged, constituted non-verbal communication targeted toward a single other person who invited and engaged in that communication. The alleged communication, however, did not result in any conduct that was disorderly on its face. ... any application of the disorderly conduct statute to the facts alleged by the State renders the statute unconstitutionally overbroad," the attorneys wrote.

Craig's attorneys also argued that the district court failed to meet its own burden to verify a factual basis for the guilty plea. They also said there was no plea hearing and no evidence a judge reviewed the plea petition.

The Court of Appeals has not yet set a time for oral arguments. Once heard, a ruling is required within 90 days.

Craig has said he will finish his term, which ends in January 2009.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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