Craig files to withdraw guilty plea

AP via Yahoo! News ^ | Sept. 10, 2007 | JOSHUA FREED

[King of Florida]

MINNEAPOLIS - Sen. Larry Craig filed papers Monday seeking to withdraw his guilty plea in an airport sex sting, arguing that he entered the plea under stress

Craig, an Idaho Republican, pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct following his June arrest in a sting operation in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. A police report alleged that Craig had solicited sex from a male officer at the airport, which the senator has denied.

In a "state of intense anxiety" following his arrest, Craig "felt compelled to grasp the lifeline offered to him by the police officer" and plead guilty in hopes the matter would not be made public, said the court papers filed in Hennepin County District Court.

The filing said Craig's "panic" drove him to accept the plea rather than seeking the advice of an attorney. As a result, Craig's guilty plea was not "knowingly and understandingly made," and the evidence against him insufficient to support the plea.

[King of Florida]

I haven't read the motion, but I don't see mention of the "manifest injustice" prongs one puts in such a motion. Plus this whole bit about "I wanted it to go away so I plead guilty" makes him look like a complete idiot.

[Red in Blue PA]

I didn’t know one even could withdraw a guilty plea!

Was he drunk at the time? What conditions made him guilty in the first place?

[scan59]

This won’t do him a bit of good. He might as well just go ahead and resign.

[kbennkc]

Is the court asked to find Mr.Craig remained in that state of debilitating panic for two months ?

[stm]

The longer he drags this out the more it hurts the party, though I guess he could care less about that. The bell has already been rung, you can’t un-ring it Craig. Just resign and be done with it. You’ve been labeled a homo, nothing you could ever do is going to change that.

[PAR35]

I don’t know that I’d like to be represented by a senator who admits that he panics under stress.

[King of Florida]

I didn’t know one even could withdraw a guilty plea!

Yup, if you meet the test for "manifest injustice," that is, you are able to show the court that your plea was not accurate, voluntary, and intelligent (i.e., knowing). I laid it out in a boring legalistic post here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1891542/posts?page=19#19

I had presumed that he would travel under the accurate prong, which basically means he would show that he did not accurately plead to all of the elements of disorderly conduct.

[Badeye]

This won’t do him a bit of good. He might as well just go ahead and resign.

Nothing quite so destructive as a closet queen outted.

[Red in Blue PA]

This guy reminds me of the saying:”there is nothing as dangerous as ignorance in action.”

[HwyChile]

I think he should withdraw the guilty plea, but that has nothing to do with him resigning. He should still resign for the sake of the party. He is tarnished goods now and a huge liability to the Republican party. It is obvious that he is just power hungry and just wants to hang on to his office regardless of whether is hurts the republicans. I think that is very selfish on his part.

[coffee260]

Clearing your name is one thing. Fine, Ok. But something is creepy about this senators eagerness to stay in power. Why doesn’t this man just slink away with the dignity he has left, deservedly or not? I don’t know if he’s guilty of soliciting sex in a bathroom but I do know he’s put his family, especially his wife, through a horrendous ordeal and tremendous pain. Why doesn’t he just throw in the towel and stop the pain and suffering for his family? Does power mean that much? Creepy I tell ya, Creepy.

[FreePaul]

...makes him look like a complete idiot.

Better stated...Confirms that he is a complete idiot.

[Mamzelle]

I don't have a dog in this hunt, I don't like Craig for other reasons, but this whole embroglio is bogus. It's going to come back and bite the GOP big time. We're going to come across as both bigots (do we mind our own business, or do we hate homosexuals? I'd rather just mind my own business) and cowards (throwing Craig overboard so hastily).

People who have never been in trouble before can do profoundly foolish things upon being arrested.

It's not like those Goose Creek South Carolina terrorists who have been coached to smile winningly for the camera.

And getting arrested for making gestures in a restroom is a highly ambiguous thing to be arrested for.

I wish Craig would resign, but I also wish the rest of the party had not called on him to resign.

Especially "Keating Five" McCain.

[KarlInOhio]

If only this poor, addle-brained man knew someone who deals with laws every day... no, wait, he's one of the people who writes laws every day.

In a "state of intense anxiety" following his arrest, Craig "felt compelled to grasp the lifeline offered to him by the police officer" and plead guilty in hopes the matter would not be made public,

So, he took a plea bargain to keep the case quiet. The case didn't stay quiet so he wants to take the plea back. I kind of hope the prosecutor jumps on him for the full soliciting charges now.

[stratboy]

My thoughts exactly. He must really lust for power (or the ability to use senate travel funds to visit big city airport bathroom stalls).

I hope the GOP pressures him to resign - or runs a suitable opponent in the primary.

The quicker we get rid of this pervert, the better our chances will be to keep the seat in 08.

[Fiji Hill]

don’t know that I’d like to be represented by a senator who admits that he panics under stress.

Bay Staters have the misfortune to be represented by a solon who panicked under stress back in July of 1969.

[deport]

This won’t do him a bit of good. He might as well just go ahead and resign.

---

I think the resignation will continue and be done. I read this as more of an attempt to clean up his stupidity; the guilty plea if in fact he was innocent.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Craig is about to find out where following Arlen Specter’s advice gets you.

(He may have to widen his stance even further after this is all over.)

[sfvgto]

Did anyone check to see if Craig really took a crap? I suppose that would be evidence of intent.

[rogue yam]

I kind of hope the prosecutor jumps on him for the full soliciting charges now.

"Soliciting"? Don't people usually use that word when the subject is prostitution?

I do not understand the crime Craig was convicted of. So far as I can tell he was supposedly convicted for discretely asking another adult to have sex with him. Why is this a crime?