Will Scooter have to cop a plea before he goes to trial?

[MoonRiver]

I thought typically prosecutors only gave defendants until trial begins to plea. Any lawyers out there know?

[NanceGreggs]

1. It depends on the prosecutor ...

I know that in standard criminal trials, the prosecutor has a right to offer a plea deal. It's up to him/her to determine if that deal stays on the table as the trial gets underway, or to specify that once the trial goes forward, all deals are off.

How Fitx would go in this case is anyone's guess. But if he only gets Libby, and Libby is later willing to roll over on bigger fish, Fitz may leave that option open to him ...

[MoonRiver]

2. Once the jury has been seated and the judge is presiding,

does the judge have anything to say about pleas?

[NanceGreggs]

3. I'm not a lawyer ...

... but I've been a court reporter for over twenty years. Any discussions of lesser charges or plea-bargaining are done on a 'without prejudice' basis, and cannot be spoken to in open court by the judge.

[TerdlowSmedley]

4. I think he'll have to plead guilty so that it doesn't go to trial.

Anything else and he'll be found having committed suicide by strangling himself with piano wire and hurling himself from a 12th floor window.

[rainbow4321]

5. I can hear the repukes now....it will be injured foot related...

"Um, yeah, whatever was wrong with his foot made him throw a blood clot that went straight to his(insert vital organ of choice here)...."

[NanceGreggs]

6. If he pleads guilty ...

... he goes directly to JAIL, and doesn't get to collect the $200 towards the fines that are also attached to these charges (i.e. his family's assets could be confiscated and liquidated).

Fitz will NEVER let him plead down to no jail time, especially if Fitz thinks (or probably KNOWS) that there are bigger fish to fry here. It's going to come down to spilling his guts, or time in the slammer.

I say he talks.

[applegrove]

7. I wonder if as part of the plea - the prosecutor can insist Scooter not

accept a Presidential Pardon?