On November 21, 2012, Hostess Bands, Inc. announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York had approved its emergency interim motion for the orderly wind down of its business and sale of its assets. But does that mean the “Twinkie defense” will go the way of the dinosaurs too?
The Twinkie defense” was coined over thirty-four (34) years ago when Dan White received only eight years for voluntary manslaughter after killing San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk. The myth surrounding the Twinkie defense is that White’s defense counsel contended that he gobbled Twinkies, which blasted sugar through his arteries and drove him into a murderous frenzy.
The main focus of the defense’s case in May 1979 was diminished capacity. The matter was raised briefly in testimony by Marin psychiatrist Martin Blinder, one of White’s five defense therapists, because rather than eat his healthful diet, he indulged in Twinkies and Coke — all symptoms, Blinder testified, of depression, which led him to kill.
The good news for Twinkie fans is that in a bankruptcy filing earlier this year, Hostess assessed the value of its trademarks and intellectual property at around $135 million. If the near-panic among junk food aficionados is any indication, it should be able to sell the brands easily. “The brands are valuable and will certainly be sold,” said David Pauker, a restructuring specialist who sat on the board of Hostess’s predecessor Interstate Bakeries.
The bad news is that according to Pauker, “The company itself won’t survive.” Pauker also said that whereas some of the Hostess bakeries would be sold, many or most would be closed and scrapped if the brands were sold to companies already operating bakeries in the same markets.
At Tourkow Crell Rosenblatt & Johnston, we provide our clients with excellent criminal and bankruptcy law services. Contact attorney John Cowan at jcowan@tcrjlaw.com to discuss your possible criminal defenses or debt relief solutions today.
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