[2] A 1994 article in Insight Magazine drew attention to claims that he was either incorrectly found guilty, or grossly over-sentenced, and denied due process of law applicable to his defense.
[1] It was expected that Hetherington would win custody due to Linda's history of abandonment of the children and family, for a period of more than two months.
[1] As trial approached in May 1986, the prosecutor offered a plea bargain, that if he pleaded guilty to a single charge of first degree rape, and a court-appointed psychologist concluded that he was not a danger to his ex-wife, he would receive a delayed sentence of 11 months, or probation with credit for time served.
A pelvic examination of Linda three hours after the incident showed no evidence of forcible injury, described as "very unusual" in a rape case by the doctor.
Conservative commentator Phyllis Schlafly claimed that Weiss, who was running for the Michigan Supreme Court at the time, was "grandstanding for the feminist vote."
Insight Magazine wrote: In the midst of running for the Michigan Supreme Court, Weiss made a dramatic statement in which he asserted that 'murder may have been less harmful' than William's acts.
He also painted a picture of a grislier crime than the one in question: 'He raped her four times at a minimum, on a single day ... every opening of her body, every cavity, had been invaded violently.'
"[1]Likewise the judge, Thomas Yeotis, discredited the psychiatrists view on the grounds that "you make a nice appearance, and yet, there's something about you that disturbs me."