How is the defendant who pleads guilty to a manslaughter charge in order to avoid a murder charge NOT under duress?
There’s a big difference between a stressful circumstance and a prosecutor applying pressure to concede to a lie. Flynn’s defense is very simple. He didn’t have all the relevant facts to make an informed decision when he plead guilty. Partly because the prosecution withheld that information, and partly because his previous representation was not adequately representing him.
In criminal cases it is recognized that using threats to prosecute other family members is unacceptable duress.
It is logical to assume that a person knows the truth of his own actions and can rightly assess the risk/benefit in plea bargaining for himself. This is not true if the object of the beneficiary of the plea is a third party.
This is why the original defense lawyers and prosecutors kept the “side deal” off the books and hid it from the judge. This is a violation of the courts rules and procedures and also goes to incompetence and self dealing of the Covington law firm.