Yesterday, the toe-tapping Senator from Idaho was quitting. Today, he’s fighting. According to this story, a call from Senator Arlen Spector changed everything.
“Fight the guilty plea,” Republican former prosecutor Spector told his brother. And Sen. Craig responded, hiring Billy Martin, crisis manager, and former House of Representatives counsel Stan Brand (imagine how busy he must be, criminal defense lawyer to Congress) to defend him.
But wait. Didn’t he take a plea to disorderly conduct? Wasn’t there a plea bargain? Did the word “guilty” come out of his mouth, without the word “not” in front of it?
Guys, this very impressive team of high powered legal clout aside, there’s a little problem here. You see, once you take a plea bargain and plead guilty, that’s generally considered the end of the game. You don’t get to take the plea, see how it shakes out, and then call a do-over.
So we have the brilliant minds that have a 1 in 100 vote on all those nasty criminal laws that the Senate likes to vote on, without a lot of regard to that silly State’s rights thing. And you guys are unaware of how this whole guilty thing works? Come on. Somebody on your staff had to tell you. I’m sure there was some discussion of how criminal law plays out when you were passing on all those Supreme Court nominees.
But Sen. Craig didn’t have a lawyer when he took the plea. Doesn’t that matter? Well, as the courts have informed defendants over and over again, you are the master of your own fate. You had the right to a lawyer (and one would be appointed for the good Senator from Idaho if he couldn’t afford one on his government paycheck), but you also have the right to go it alone.
There’s the “knowing, voluntary and intelligent waiver” thing happening. Does the Senator, one of a mere 100 people entitled to vote in the United States Senate, claim that he’s so close to brain-dead that he was incapable of a waiver? Well, that position may well play better in Idaho than being a closet queen.
Personally, I think Larry Craig deserves a second bite of the apple. And so does every other defendant for whom the majesty of the law didn’t turn out as well as expected. We all remember when that shy flower, Paris Hilton, went to jail to send a message to the rest of us that even popular people are not above the law. Now would be the perfect time for Sen. Craig to send the message to his fellow convicts everywhere that if their idea of a really good deal didn’t pan out, you get a do-over. Go for it Larry!
“Fight the guilty plea,” Republican former prosecutor Spector told his brother. And Sen. Craig responded, hiring Billy Martin, crisis manager, and former House of Representatives counsel Stan Brand (imagine how busy he must be, criminal defense lawyer to Congress) to defend him.
But wait. Didn’t he take a plea to disorderly conduct? Wasn’t there a plea bargain? Did the word “guilty” come out of his mouth, without the word “not” in front of it?
Guys, this very impressive team of high powered legal clout aside, there’s a little problem here. You see, once you take a plea bargain and plead guilty, that’s generally considered the end of the game. You don’t get to take the plea, see how it shakes out, and then call a do-over.
So we have the brilliant minds that have a 1 in 100 vote on all those nasty criminal laws that the Senate likes to vote on, without a lot of regard to that silly State’s rights thing. And you guys are unaware of how this whole guilty thing works? Come on. Somebody on your staff had to tell you. I’m sure there was some discussion of how criminal law plays out when you were passing on all those Supreme Court nominees.
But Sen. Craig didn’t have a lawyer when he took the plea. Doesn’t that matter? Well, as the courts have informed defendants over and over again, you are the master of your own fate. You had the right to a lawyer (and one would be appointed for the good Senator from Idaho if he couldn’t afford one on his government paycheck), but you also have the right to go it alone.
There’s the “knowing, voluntary and intelligent waiver” thing happening. Does the Senator, one of a mere 100 people entitled to vote in the United States Senate, claim that he’s so close to brain-dead that he was incapable of a waiver? Well, that position may well play better in Idaho than being a closet queen.
Personally, I think Larry Craig deserves a second bite of the apple. And so does every other defendant for whom the majesty of the law didn’t turn out as well as expected. We all remember when that shy flower, Paris Hilton, went to jail to send a message to the rest of us that even popular people are not above the law. Now would be the perfect time for Sen. Craig to send the message to his fellow convicts everywhere that if their idea of a really good deal didn’t pan out, you get a do-over. Go for it Larry!
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Yes sir, that guilty plea might present a little procedural problem.
Cheap At Half the Price
The word is out that toe-tapping Senator Larry Craig, our