{"id":1516,"date":"2011-08-20T14:26:15","date_gmt":"2011-08-20T14:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/?p=1516"},"modified":"2011-08-20T14:26:15","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T14:26:15","slug":"the-alford-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/the-alford-plea\/","title":{"rendered":"The Alford Plea"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
(Presidential motorcade taking the President and his daughters to the book store on Martha\u2019s Vineyard. Photo New York Times.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am bustling around trying to get organized for the memorial service, since I have confirmation that my 91-year-old-date will be ready for pick up at his residence over in Ballston at 12:45.<\/p>\n

The man we will memorialize was blown up in an IED attack in Iraq last year and struggled with PTSD since returning. He took his own life two weeks ago, unable to cope or re-engage with his wife and two kids. His Dad is an old shipmate of ours, so it is important to show solidarity for his memory an the other wounded warriors.<\/p>\n

It means a trip to Leesburg, but that in inconsequential for me, though a bit of a haul for Mac. But it is to convey the understanding that we know this was a combat death, albeit delayed, and not some character flaw.<\/p>\n

It is really sad. We talked about it at Willow the other night, about the tragedy of the extended adventure in Iraq, along with a zillion other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you see the President\u2019s motorcade?\u201d I said, to no one in particular. \u201cIt was amazing. There must have been fifty vehicles rolling through Zumbrota, Minnesota. It was a great YouTube video.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has the same thing on Martha\u2019s Vineyard to take the girls to the book store,\u201d said Old Jim from the apex of the Amen Corner. \u201cFunny how out of place Imperial Washington is when it travels to the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vacation entourage is supposed to be 150 people,\u201d I said. \u201cAnd they brought two mobile cell towers with them so they can yack on their phones. I don\u2019t begrudge the President some connectivity, but the whole thing seems sort of excessive, given the times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo wonder we are out of touch,\u201d said Old Jim. \u201cBut that is not the only strange stuff that is going on.\u201d Elisabeth-with-an-S was behind the bar, and walked over to give me tulip glass and swirl some cool crisp happy hour white into my glass. As you know, she is actually a credentialed attorney, and only biding her time on the other side of the bar until something suitable comes along.<\/p>\n

I asked her how she was doing, and if she liked the picture I took of her when Mac and I were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t have a chance to look,\u201d she said. \u201cBeen here all day, and the free time on break I was following the Memphis Three.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a strange thing. I didn\u2019t recall the original trial, but it was something about murdered Cub Scouts and Satanism, right? It sounded horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elisabeth nodded. \u201cThe case had everything. Coerced confessions, contradictory DNS evidence, all sorts of stuff. The three of them became quite the cause celebe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yeah, but that is what I didn\u2019t understand from the news on the radio. Didn\u2019t they plead guilty and then were let go? That doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a seemingly contradictory deal,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is why I find it professionally interesting, and I get to follow the legal reasoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike Spiro Agnew and the nolo contender plea?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSort of. Judge Laser vacated the convictions of the three, including the capital murder charges. The three then declared their innocence, were found guilty an allowed to walk free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got to help me, Councilor. How does that work?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a thing called the \u2018Alford Plea,\u2019 which is a legal mechanism by which defendants are allowed to maintain their innocence, and are only pleading guilty because they consider it in their best interest. The judge ordered a new trial, then he sentenced them to time-served. The prosecution didn\u2019t think it was worth going through the motions to do anything else, since a lot of evidence has disappeared over the years and witnesses have changed their minds about their testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me get it straight. The three Cub Scouts are still dead, the convicted murderers are walking free and no one did it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially. The only DNA evidence left is connected to one of the kid\u2019s stepfathers, so this is going to go into the Cold Case bin. An Alford Plea means that someone is going to be responsible, for the record, but both sides acknowledge that it probably didn\u2019t happen that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s creepy,\u201d I said. \u201cHow do you attorneys live with yourselves?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tend bar,\u201d She said, topping up the happy hour white. \u201cBut look at it this way. I am waiting for a chance to get into the public interest side of the law and do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know one thing that would be in the public interest,\u201d I said. \u201cYou may be too young to remember, but after the Savings and Loan collapse in the \u201880s and early \u201890s, hundred of those bastard bankers were indicted and a lot of them, including Charlie Keating, went to jail. He got a dozen years in the slammer for fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am old enough to remember precedent,\u201d she laughed, her chestnut ponytail swinging merrily. \u201cThat is what we lawyers do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Keating got his conviction overturned with plea bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he still did some hard time, though. I don\u2019t recall whether it was an Alford Plea or not that got him off with time served.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing is for sure,\u201d growled Old Jim. \u201cNot one person of any consequence has paid a damned thing for the aftermath of the credit crisis and the real estate melt-down. Not one indictment and not one day of jail time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that\u2019s because we haven\u2019t reached the aftermath yet,\u201d I said. \u201cMaybe everyone got an Alford Plea already. Or maybe it\u2019s only just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember a song by that name,\u201d said Elisabeth brightly. \u201cIt was popular back before I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOuch,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarpenters. 1970,\u201d said Old Jim with a scowl. \u201cWhen things didn\u2019t make any more sense than they do now. And we had only got started on things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2011 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am bustling around trying to get organized for the memorial service, since I have confirmation that my 91-year-old-date will be ready for pick up at his residence over in Ballston at 12:45. The man we will memorialize was blown up in an IED attack in Iraq last year and struggled with PTSD since returning. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}