Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Falcone  Why not go to trial on this. Not sure I understand that choice. |
It would be too risky. Not a lawyer, but I am a 1L :) Heres why:
1 - He would have had to face the jury under the original charge and then let them decide if it was murder, an imperfect self defense or purely self defense. Expecting a jury to understand the nuances between all of them is a very risky gamble.
2 - He's looking at as little as 3 years now or risk 25 years in front of a jury. The guy is old (57), but in three years this will all be behind him and he could still lead a productive life. In 25 years, his life is over - it would have been the same as a life sentence.
3 - Mounting a defense like this at trial would have been a VERY expensive proposition. You'd need eye witnesses, video experts, medical experts. You'd also get a lot of "he said, she said" with the eyewitnesses, which calls into question the notion of self defense. On top of that, its hard to claim self defense unless they take the stand and in a murder case, you want to do everything you can to avoid taking the stand.