BUNKERVILLE STANDOFF: JUDGE NAVARRO TO HEAR MOTION...DELAY TRIAL...PETE SANTILLI PLEA CHANGE

Tomorrow (Friday October 6th) US District Judge Gloria Navarro is holding a hearing on the motion by defendant Ryan Payne for a 60-day "continuance" of the trial set to begin next Tuesday (October 10th).

Payne's motion is motivated by concern that the mass murder-shooting in Las Vegas would prejudice and jury and the trial.

An additional document filed by Payne's lawyer says that if the judge is not agreeable to the 60 day delay, a delay until October 30th would be acceptable.

Payne's lawyers are also suggesting the possibility of moving the trial to Reno because of the situation in Las Vegas......

....there will be a hearing at 9am tomorrow (Friday October 6th) on Santilli's change from not guilty pleas.

Santilli was one of seven men set to go on trial next Tuesday in Las Vegas along with Cliven Bundy, Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne, Eric Parker and Scott Drexler.

Justice in a Federal Court? 90 to 95% unlikely. Conviction rates in Federal Court, 90 to 95%.

The information below is found on the web site of Criminal Defense Attorney H. Michael Steinberg and numerous other web sites say essentially the same thing.

http://www.hmichaelsteinberg.com/

What are the chances for a “Not Guilty” verdict if a federally charged criminal defendant takes the case to trial?

Statistically not very good. Currently federal prosecutors tout above a 95% conviction rate. This is primarily due to the fact that most cases never make it to trial. Most defendants end up taking a plea bargain rather then risk a potentially much greater prison sentence which could be dealt them if they actual went to trial and lost. Another factor is the empowerment and impunity given to both investigating authorities and prosecutors, along with an interesting trial maneuver called “Jury Instructions”. Jury instructions are basically parameters that the judge provides the jury which can greatly affect the outcome of a verdict.

Lets say you where being charged with a federal crime which could send you to prison for 10 years if you lost at trial, and you are being offered a 3 year prison sentence if you accept a plea bargain. If you believed you we’re innocent would you still take your case to trial knowing that if by chance you lose, you may have to serve a 10 year prison sentence? Currently within the Federal prison system, you will server at least 85% of that time.

What about the innocent person who’s indicted – won’t a trial bring out the truth?

Ideally that’s how it should be but unfortunately, at least in the federal court system, it many times does not go this way. Its almost always the goal of the prosecutor to get the defendant to take a plea bargain. Why? Because it saves the prosecutor, time and the government, money.

The prosecutorial system is actually engineered to motivate a criminal defendant into taking a plea bargain by offering points off for cooperating. It is well known that a criminal defendant, who chooses to take the case to trial, risks receiving a much stiffer prison sentence as opposed to taking a plea bargain. It gets easier to see why the prosecutors are beating Vegas odds with a 95% plus federal conviction rate.

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