My theory about Ronnie Earle and DeLay

[kstewart33]

Why did Ronnie Earle put another grand jury together today that indicted DeLay by the end of its first day of deliberation?

The two of them met in August and reached an agreement. If DeLay would sign a waiver to nullify the statute of limitations which would have made it impossible for Earle to prosecute DeLay, then Earle would only prosecute him on the conspiracy charge which was the least objectionable charge (with no major jail time). DeLay agreed and signed the waiver.

Today, DeLay reneged on the waiver and sought to have the case dismissed on a technicality (not the waiver). Earle concluded that all agreements were off and went for the more serious money laundering indictment. And with a new grand jury, he got it.

Earle's lesson: you can't trust DeLay on anything.

On edit: Several posters say that the statute of limitations does not apply on the money laundering charge, so why didn't Earle just go ahead and indict on the money laundering charge in the first place? I think there was more to the deal. I think that DeLay agreed that when the trial began, he would plead no lo contendre (no contest) to the charge to get a lesser sentence. Then Earle would get his conviction, ending DeLay's political career, and DeLay would get his hand slapped and no more. Earle was willing to accept that compromise as long as DeLay got the ultimate punishment (the end of his career). And the money laundering charge may be harder to prove.

[0007]

1. Good point!

[benburch]

2. Brilliant! nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. So Earle was still within the statute of limitations for the

laundering charges? Why would he need a waiver if he's still within the limits?

[Walt Starr]

6. The waiver was on the conspiracy charge

The SOL on the Laundering charges has not run out.

IIRC, there is no SOL on the laundering charges.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. So the big story is, why was Earle being such a nice guy in giving

Delay an option in the first place? If he had a case for the laundering of money, why would he even offer a deal to Delay? And did Delay make a mistake by considering that offer because it showed that he was concerned about it?

[Walt Starr]

10. Taking a plea is easier than convicting in court

It frees up the staff to go after other crimes. Standard practice in any prosecutor's office.

[benburch]

16. And this case is likely to be a REAL drain on Earle's office.

High profile lawyers... Political pressure... Press...

A real mess to prosecute.

So I hope he makes DeLay PAY for this and asks for the maximum penalty.

[Walt Starr]

4. Yup

and DeLay is going down.

He'll be wearing orange.

[texpatriot2004]

5. It's as if Earle knew DeLay wouldn't keep his word. Way to go

Mr. Earle...thanks for being a step ahead.

[benburch]

7. And Earle can now release the transcripts of the earlier plea deal.

Should he so choose.

[Walt Starr]

15. Since DeLay and his lawyer continue to shoot off their mouths

I suspect he will.

[Beetwasher]

9. Yup, My Theory Too!

Thread here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4963500

[Catherine Vincent]

11. If that is the case, I love it.

Kick his ass Earle!

[GrpCaptMandrake]

12. The DeLay Waiver

I've done a little reading on the issue of the waiver. Apparently, it wasn't really a statute of limitations issue. It looked more like bill of attainder or ex post facto. Hence the motion to dismiss.

This is a legalistic game of Texas Hold 'Em. But it says swiftboatloads that the money laundering charge carries a possiblity of life imprisonment. Earle just raised the stakes even before the flop.

One can't help but wonder if the conspiracy charge at the end of the last grand jury was a warm-up. With that charge out there, it may well have emboldened this grand jury to play hardball.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

13. Also . . .

Is it possible that between the first indictment and this one, someone has broken Omerta and rolled on the hammer?

Now THAT's delicious!

[benburch]

14. This just gets BETTER and BETTER.

:evilgrin:

Makes a sadist like myself quite happy.

[KharmaTrain]

17. DeLay Upped The Ante

Exellent analysis. Yes, Earle appeared to have the nolo contendre deal worked. Supposedly this would strip DeLay of his leadership (and it's not certain if that would be for one term or longer...no one has answered this question that I'm aware of) and would fall under the 2-year limit...since it wouldn't be a federal conviction...he could still serve in the House and still cause a lot of trouble.

The story late last week was DeLay was taking the conpiracy wrap to get out from under the same charges his Trimpac partners were facing (money laundering). Now here's the real kicker...this indictment not only came from a second grand jury, but on the merits of the same indictment another grand jury passed indictments on. If I'm DeLay's lawyers, I'm thinking I just screwed up real bad.

The Bugman musta drank some of his kool-aid over the past couple days...and thought that coporate media spin could create some kind of jury nulification. Demonize Earle and claim things are partisan (and he should know partisan)...but this dog ain't huntin'. This weasel...even for the Repugnicans...has always been sleezy. We're not seeing the support of a popular leader, we're seeing support out of fear of intimidation and possible future retribution.

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

18. Very Plausable

:popcorn: