Former fugitive heir Luster appeals rape conviction
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Andrew Luster
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SANTA MONICA, California (AP) -- An attorney for Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster, convicted in absentia of raping three women, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that denied his client the right to appeal.
The petition was filed with the high court this week.
Luster's appeal was rejected under the so-called "fugitive disentitlement doctrine," which generally prohibits people who flee during trial from appealing their sentences and convictions.
Luster, 39, the great-grandson of the cosmetics legend, fled during trial in January and was convicted of raping three women after knocking them out with the date rape drug GHB. A bounty hunter captured him in Mexico five months later, and he is now in prison.
Luster attorney Roger Diamond acknowledged Wednesday that the effort to appeal "is going to be difficult." The California Supreme Court refused to review the case in September.
Luster's attorneys hope to challenge several things on appeal, including the police search of a home where they found videos of some of the rapes.
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