ATTORNEY: PLEA TO HOMICIDE INDICATES STRONG CASE
Thursday, May 18th, 2006 -- 1:46 PM
Many were taken by surprise by news Shaun Rudy appears ready to plead ?guilty? or ?no contest? to charges he killed his wife and her unborn child.Kirk Obear, President-elect of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, says it is rare ? but not unheard of ? for a defendant to plead to serious charges, even if there is no plea agreement on the table.
It usually indicates the defense feels the prosecutor has a fairly clear-cut case.
?I haven?t had a case where I entered a plea without some sort of agreement on the table,? Obear says. ?It lends itself to the defense making decisions about what to do based on what they think is going to happen at trial, and if they don?t think they can prevail at trial, what the wisest sentencing move is.?
While there is no indication it's the case with Mr. Rudy, Obear says the conscience of a defendant can sometimes weigh heavily in a decision to plead, as opposed to fight charges at trial.
?The decision will be primarily made by the defendant with the advice of council. Something as significant as filing a plea without a plea agreement is, I?m going to guess, motivated by a desire to take responsibility,? Obear says.
By pleading to the charges, the defense hopes to show they are cooperating and admit wrongdoing in the hopes the judge shows some leniency in his sentencing. Under 'Wisconsin's' Truth in Sentencing law, parole is no longer an option.
?I imagine if someone were trying to make the best out of a bad situation it would be to have the judge determine that ?life in prison? was not the sentence,? Obear says.
By entering a plea next week, Rudy will be losing one of two possible grounds of appeal; seeing he hasn?t raised evidentiary issues ? such as search, or Miranda Rights concerns ? he can no longer appeal his convictions on that basis, according to Obear.
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