I’ll just make these two further comment before I wear out my welcome:

“While I’m sure it was extremely unpleasant for Cooney to have this hanging over his head as long as it did (seven months), I don’t think it violates the 6th Amendment.”

If ever a defendant has to plead guilty because he cannot afford to wait
out the court, then the 6th amendment has been violated. Cooney could afford
to pay out thousands; what happens to those who can’t?

“Finally, Chavez, none of what you write about the Duke situation had anything to do with the what happened in this case. ”

Duke is the tip of the iceberg. Think Cynthia McKinney, or Patrick Kennedy. Jamie Gorelick (then deputy US AG) was ready to charge the LAPD with civil rights violations, if OJ Simpson had been found guilty The feds are now willing to look into the NYPD shooting of Bell. (OTOH, the DOJ refused to investigate any civil rights violations in Durham.) None of these decisions have anything to do with the merits of the cases, but have everything to do with maintaining public perceptions of justice. Given that, I have no trouble thinking that a rich preppie kid could be deliberately prosecuted for hate crimes for the same reasons, whether guilty or not.

Thanx.

There is a substantial possibility.

In the Duke case, the Chairman of the Trustees (who is also a current Under Secretary of the Treasury), Robert K. Steel, is alleged in the present lawsuits to have told the other Trustees that a conviction of the lacrosse players would better serve the interests of Duke (vis-a-vis community relations). To that end, he is alleged to have instructed the Duke University police to falsify records, conceal evidence of their investigations, and cease to look for evidence of innocence.

One of the Duke defendants, Finnerty, was tried in DC as a result of being charged in Durham (a ‘violation’ of his DC diversion agreement). Witnesses against him changed their stories from what they said in depositions; police officers ‘remembered’ things that weren’t in their notes. The chief defense witness was prevented from testifying. Eight federal attorneys plus nine additional staff took part in the prosecution–of a misdemeanor, in which the defendant was charged with shouting at someone and threatening him with his fists (but not striking him) after he himself had been struck from behind and knocked down. (For comparison purposes, the OJ Simpson prosecution used generally a total of 13 attorneys and staff.)

Was that a political case? Was the prosecutor avoiding criticism that he wouldn’t prosecute a rich white preppie kid, or that the rich white kids always get off?

Was Cooney prosecuted for the same reason?

In DC? I could well believe it.

The 6th Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial. In California (where courts are surely as clogged as anywhere) the state must begin TRIAL within 60 days of bringing charges; otherwise, the case must be dropped. (Defense attorneys often ask for extra time to prepare, but the state in most circumstances is not allowed this.)

Yet, for a misdemeanor, the DC US Attorney needs 8 or 9 months to determine there is inadequate evidence? People hundreds of miles away, reading about the curious ID process, made that call almost immediately after the charges were brought.

Prosecutors who delay trials force defendants to spend huge sums (thousands of dollars) on defense costs (court appearances don’t come cheap; neither do lie detector tests, depositions, witness statements, etc.–each at several hundred dollars per hour, plus secretarial help, copies, etc.)

Prosecutors know this; someone in Cooney’s position would have had no choice
but to accept a plea deal if he wasn’t prepared to spend –$15,000? (a guess)–
over nine months. And if his ‘trial’ jury wasn’t convinced, or was biased against him
(quite possible), if convicted he would face a much stiffer sentence (6 months in jail) than if he just confessed (even for something he didn’t do) in exchange for a fine and probation.

That’s how justice is administered in today’s America. It’s just like your local traffic offense–better to pay the fine rather than go to court and fight it.

And prosecutors know they will never pay a price for this. Nifong, for all his actions, spent a total of one day in jail. It was a joke.