Down the coast with Dana Parsons
The federal corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona is slated to start Oct. 28, a mere 10 months past the point where I predicted he’d cop a plea.
OK, not the first time I’ve been wrong.
But is Carona really going to trial?
I asked a veteran Orange County trial attorney with experience in both state and federal courts for his two cents’ worth. He made it clear he wasn’t familiar with the ins and outs of the case and didn’t want to speak for attribution, but he did underscore the potential dangers of Carona forging ahead.
"You’ve got to recognize, generally," the attorney said, "that defending in either state or federal court is an uphill battle. They [government prosecutors] are in court because they want to be in court. If they thought they had a weak case, they’d kick it, but you can kind of conclude that, especially in a high-profile case like this, if they’re going to the mat, they feel they’ve got the goods on him."
The lawyer couldn’t say how he’d attack the government’s case, and it’s not as though the feds are undefeated over the years. You can beat them.
Uh, slight problem: If you go to trial and lose, you get a longer sentence.
"In theory, there should be no penalty for defending yourself," the lawyer says. But, if convicted, the defendant is subject to a tiered sentencing grid that takes into account whether he took responsibility early on for the alleged crime. And, of course, if the defendant testifies and the judge thinks he lied....
Bottom line, the lawyer says, is that copping a plea can shave significant time — at least a year — off the sentence.
Of course, walking away a free man is even better.
What a choice. Cop a plea and know what you’re getting. Or convince all 12 jurors you’re innocent and have a nice dinner that night. Or, dum-da-dum-dum, get convicted and resign yourself to counting off an additional 365 days or more on your cell wall.
If Carona is like most of us, he probably has no idea what to do.
Is that why God invented lawyers?
