SIRHAN SIRHAN SEEKS COMMUTATION OF LIFE-SENTENCE, CLAIMS HE WAS HUNTING QUAIL WHEN HE SHOT RFKSACRAMENTO - Sirhan Sirhan is seeking a commutation of the life-sentence he received as a result of his conviction stemming from the June 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy because he claims he was hunting quail in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel when Kennedy accidentally crossed into his line of fire.
The Petition filed today by attorneys for Sirhan in the state Supreme Court claims that at the time of the shooting, Sirhan had followed a covey of quail into the kitchen, but in "a tragic mix-up," he mistook Senator Kennedy for an oversized game bird. "Senator Kennedy failed to signal that he was walking behind Sirhan," the Petition contends, "which, as every hunter understands, is standard procedure when quail hunting in the kitchen of the restaurant of a large hotel." Sirhan went to great lengths to make clear that he was not blaming Kennedy for the shooting. "Ultimately, I'm the guy who pulled the triggered," he wrote. "So, yes, I take full responsibility."
The Petition also explained why Sirhan waited so long -- almost 38 years -- to reveal that the shooting was an accident. "My immediate concern was for the health of my friend, Bobby," Sirhan explained. "I still think it was the right call to wait." Sirhan admits that the one thing for which he is culpable is failing to pay the state of California the seven dollar fee for a quail-hunting license. "Nevertheless," the Petition asserts, "the 38 years Sirhan has spent in prison should constitute sufficient punishment for this oversight."
