The legal team for convicted killer Michelle Kosilek was awarded $700,000 in fees by a federal judge on Wednesday, according to The Boston Herald. The judge told the legal team that it “performed brilliantly” when they won their client a sex change operation.
The award, for $724,000, was awarded by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf. Judge Wolf said that the award is tentative and could change minutely when he issues his written order. Judge Wolf made sure to note that the award is “richly deserved” for the team that “persuaded a skeptical judge” and came out victorious in a difficult case. The team worked unpaid for 10 years.
Judge Wolf also said that he understands that the award is a “great deal of money” for taxpayers in the state, but said that people are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in other cases regarding inmate-rights.
“Resistance at all costs could end up costing the taxpayers quite a lot,” Wolf said. “The defendant, up to the governor, should consider whether it’s in the public’s interest to do that.”
Judge Wolf denied Kosilek’s bid for $698 in postage. Cheryl Kosilek was murdered in 1990 at the age of 36. The niece of Cheryl Kosilek, Susan Ohannessian, said, “Unbelievable. We already paid. Cheryl paid with her blood. That was enough.”