Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Serendipity Now!

Well, I'm getting geared up for jury selection this morning, thinking about what questions I can possibly ask these jurors that will bring the slightest bit of reasonable doubt into their minds - doubt, I might add, that will quickly dissipate once the case starts. Then, what should happen, but the DA calls and lets me know that her witness that she is flying in from out of state missed his flight (apparently we're not dealing with a person who flies very frequently, if at all), got lost going to the airport, freaked out about what to do, and called the DA asking to be put on another flight the next day.

Far as I'm aware, he's still coming, just a day late (and no dollars short). However, this is the kind of wrinkle that makes the DA think a little, and she thought about it and gave my guy a new offer - 7 years. This is still hard for him to swallow, in that he has to serve 85%, and his original offer of 5 years was at 50%, but it's a helluva lot better than the previous offer of 12, and certainly better than the 30 he'd probably get after trial.

Believe it or not, he rejected it at first, but when the Judge asked him what he wanted to do, he said he'd take it.

I really can't believe this guy lucked out the way he did, he certainly didn't deserve it, but he played Russian Roulette, and didn't die (although he didn't do necessarily well). Let's just say that rather than dodging the bullett, it grazed him and gave him a flesh wound.

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