BREAKING NEWS: Kenneth Chesebro, alleged architect of the “fake electors” plot, has struck a plea deal with prosecutors

Lawfare ^ | 10/20/2023 | Anna Bower

[Alter Kaker]

BREAKING NEWS: Kenneth Chesebro, alleged architect of the “fake electors” plot, has struck a plea deal with prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, per source familiar with the arrangement.

Chesebro is set to plead guilty to at least one felony charge as a part of the deal, the source told @lawfare.

Watch live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoNO945_vk0

[Armscor38]

“No, Cheesebro took a similar deal as Powell. Fulton County doesn’t have the receipts. They don’t want a trial that will expose how weak their case is.”

If Cheesebro and Powell knew that Fulton County had a weak case, they would have taken this to trial rather then plea bargaining to lesser charges.

[linMcHlp]

Thank you for the info (from Techno Fog, at Twitter/X) re Sydney Powell in reply 35.

[xzins]

Good idea.

[xzins]

I believe a coercion claim mitigates a plea?

[Coronal]

If what happened here constituted “coercion”, every plea deal ever struck could be appealed. Unless he can show that something significantly different from the standard plea bargain process happened here, it would go nowhere.

[kabar]

The fellow pleaded guilty to a felony. That's not a trivial thing. The State was more than willing to go ahead with the trial, the defendant had already spent lots of money to get to this point, with jury selection beginning. It's not the State that lost their will and gave up, it's Chesebro. Had he merely pleaded out to a bunch of misdemeanors like Sidney, I might agree with you. But he didn't. He took the F. Now he has to give up his personal firearms and right to vote. Would you do that if you felt you could win on the merits?

One of the main objectives of lawfare is to bankrupt people using legal costs. It was used effectively in the Russia Hoax, the two impeachments of Trump, and J6. Powell and Chesebro chose what was in their best interests. They requested a speedy trial to minimize their legal costs and possible exposure to biased juries.

As Techno Fog so aptly stated, "Anyways, with all these factors at play, it’s no surprise that a misdemeanor plea deal might be the best option. This is true even when you’re innocent. Principle is great, but the system doesn’t work for the innocent. Trial is a terrible place to get to the truth. It’s an even worse place for justice. Better to accept a misdemeanor and go home instead of facing the near-certainty of 5+ years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees."

Why did the State agree to the plea deal? Techno Fog opines: "The deal also shows that Fulton County prosecutors don’t want to go to trial right now. Spending four months in the courtroom and presenting hundreds of witnesses would only help the defense of Donald Trump. There would be no surprises at Trump’s trial - all the witnesses would be on record, the weaknesses of the prosecution would be exposed."

Chesebro's felony charge and recommended punishment are as follows:

Chesebro lives in Puerto Rico. Maybe he doesn't care about losing his right to vote or having personal firearms. He can live with this slap on the wrist and minor fine. He is done with it. All he can be compelled to do is to testify in other cases. As long as he tells the truth, it really doesn't matter.

[kabar]

See my post #66.

[gloryblaze]

I don’t know if the article has been updated, or if I misunderstood, but I read it thinking that was still merely what the prosecution was seeking in the plea deal, but not ruled as yet by the judge, which was strange. Sorry if I got it wrong.

I understand the conditions of the sentence.

[ohioman]

I am sure your Rino arse is fine with this.

[Reynoldo]

“ can President Trump fund the defenses of fellow defendants? “

Sure, and he’s a Multi-Billionaire.

[Reynoldo]

“ No such thing as “fake electors” “

So you and I and everybody else can call themselves an elector and we wouldn’t be fake?

[Observator]

They don’t want a trial that will expose how weak their case is.

Can you think of any other trial, in history, when a defendant pled guilty to a felony charge, including requiring high leverage testimony, when they knew the case was against themselves was weak?

[Observator]

Thank you for the info (from Techno Fog, at Twitter/X) re Sydney Powell in reply 35.

TechFog needs to update their article now that Cheesebro has flipped, although the rationale for that being good news may be harder to find.

It's going to get harder to spin before it gets any easier, since Cheesebro sure isn't the last shoe to drop.

Giuliani is looking at a couple of exit doors, and neither of them involve taking this to trial, broke and without lawyers.

[Yardstick]

This strikes me as criminalizing an instance of the natural rough & tumble nature of politics under a constitutional system like ours. This should have been handled in the political realm, not in the courts.

[kabar]

This is the way “justice” is meted out in this country. Do you think the J6 political prisoners deserve the sentences they receive, especially compared to how the Antifa and BLM rioters were treated.

Most cases in this country don’t even go to trial. Plea bargaining is the way cases are resolved. Public defenders are not working in the best interests of the accused.

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/pleabargaining/

Plea bargaining is prevalent for practical reasons.

Defendants can avoid the time and cost of defending themselves at trial, the risk of harsher punishment, and the publicity a trial could involve.

The prosecution saves the time and expense of a lengthy trial.

Both sides are spared the uncertainty of going to trial.

The court system is saved the burden of conducting a trial on every crime charged.

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158356619/plea-bargains-criminal-cases-justice

The vast majority of criminal cases end in plea bargains, a new report finds

In any given year, 98% of criminal cases in the federal courts end with a plea bargain — a practice that prizes efficiency over fairness and innocence, according to a new report from the American Bar Association.

A task force that includes prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and academics cited “substantial evidence” that innocent people are coerced into guilty pleas because of the power prosecutors hold over them, including the prospect of decades-long mandatory minimum sentences.

“Trials have become rare legal artifacts in most U.S. jurisdictions, and even nonexistent in others,” the ABA Plea Bargain Task Force wrote in a report released Wednesday.

[Observator]

I think you're missing the broader context.

Nationally north of 80% of defendants end up guilty if a case goes to trial. Less than 10% of Americans have a felony. Amongst certain genders and ethnic groups there's a skew obviously.

Depending on your perspective, you could say the fix is in, there's no justice, the Man/DS controls all the courts, etc. Or you could read into it that you generally end up in a trial situation when you're guilty of something.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Or you could read into it that you generally end up in a trial situation when you're guilty of something.

Trump is guilty of beating Hillary and of not folding for dems and RINOs.

[central_va]

Democrats steal the election and prosecute Republicans that fight the fraud. Amazing.

[Organic Panic]

They were a legitimate group of electors u def the impression they were the proper group for the state. It has been done in the past and guarantee democrats will do it again.

[Observator]

Trump is guilty of beating Hillary and of not folding for dems and RINOs.

I've forwarded this nugget to Alina Hubabba. You'll know that she's read it once the case is dismissed next week.