September 26, 2007
Craig to Withdraw Guilty Plea Today
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Like you didn’t see this coming. From SFGate:
Sen. Larry Craig said he hopes that his guilty plea in an airport sex sting will be rescinded by a court in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
The first step in the process of wiping away that plea, however, has nothing to do with whether an undercover policeman misunderstood Craig’s actions in a bathroom stall at the Minneapolis airport. Instead, it’s all about whether Craig’s attorneys can convince Judge Charles Porter that the Idaho senator’s plea was a mistake.
“He’s already gotten lots of justice and fairness,” said Mary Jane Morrison, a professor in criminal law at Hamline University. “A court will view this as taking not just a second bite at the apple, but a fourth and fifth bite. Because he had the right to refuse to plead in the first place, and put the state to its proof. He had the right to have an attorney help him figure out what was in his best interest.”
Craig won’t be attending the hearing, according to Judy Smith, a spokeswoman for Craig attorney Billy Martin. Stopping briefly to speak to reporters as he left his home in the Washington area early Wednesday, Craig said he hoped the judge would “allow me to prove my innocence.”
. . .Craig announced that he intends to resign from the Senate on Sept. 30, but a spokesman has said there is a slight chance he may keep his seat if he can withdraw his plea.
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