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There's an implication that if someone pleads guilty, than they must be guilty.
I know longer accept this as gospel truth.
Anyone would hate being falsely accused of a crime. However, imagine being in a situation where you hired private legal counsel and you learn the following:
1. A guilty plea to a lesser charge will involve 2 years imprisonment. Conviction for the offense you are charged with will mean a sentence of 10 to 15 years imprisonment.
2. The chief evidence against you is a co-worker who was offered a plea to a much less serious offense in exchange for testifying against you. His sentence will not be imposed until after your case is resolved. The government has made it clear to him that they will make a recommendation as to what sentence shall be imposed upon him after he testifies. In other words, if "he does a real good job" testifying he will get a shorter time in jail.
3. The other evidence is that of an eyewitness who made a mistaken identification of you. Even though the witness is wrong, he stubbornly sticks to his story.
4. Your attorney is very competent, but expensive. A trial will cost you another $30,000. You have already paid $15,000 in legal fees. Counsel makes it clear that he can't guarantee a result one way or another. Its up to the jury and juries can be very capricious.
5. You are a businessman and have no professional licenses at stake. Once you are released from jail, nothing will prevent you from finding work in your occupation of choice.
What would you do in these circumstances? Would part of the decision depend on whether you had another $30,000 to pay for a trial?
Not only that, but what is 10-15 years of being away from your family worth, and what of your health?
My loved one gained 30 pounds because the prison food is terrible and often not enough, and so often inmates buy junk (think ramen noodles) from the commisary (for outrageous prices) at a huge cost to their loved ones, to supplement their need for food
It was a no-brainer for him to take a plea of 3mos. vs. 20+ years (possibly) esp. after we saw and heard the DA coaching the accuser in the hallway....for rebuttal and she was basically instructing her how to lie and make it believeable (was reported and nothing was done) *sigh*
I remember reading the book he wrote about his family's murder but I also read stuff written by others involved in his prosecution. The Jury thought he was guilty but juries have made mistakes in the past. What is the new evidence? It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
From what I read this morning, it appears that they took blood from the home and he is going to attempt to link it to his story that hippies killed his family. The only thing I have seen besides news stories (in the past) would be the movie that has shown for years, which shows him rather nuts. The article I read today states that he has never faltered from the story that hippies high on something broke into his house and killed his family. I guess time will tell but if someone high on something killed his family they were smart enough to wear gloves when they wrote "pig" on the wall.
Not. I doubt he will get another trial. He is guilty. Read "Fatal Vision", it lays out the whole trail. Amazing, a woman actually married him, while he was incarcerated. What is with women who marry guys like this? Messed up.
He's guilty. I read that book too. His wife and daughters were stabbed multiple times, beaten with a club, and he had just a slight concussion and a neat incision betweeen his ribs? Come on.
And, against all statistical odds, everyone in the family had different blood types so the investigtors could tell what happened and where. His story didn't match the blood evidence.
It's hard to believe from these pictures that this is the same Jeffrey MacDonald....he aapears to bear no resemblance to his younger self. I agree that he made up the stuff about hippies breaking in. This article states that a copy of Esquire magazine, detailing the Manson murders that had occurred six months prior to this case, was found in the MacDonald home. Jeffrey MacDonald back in court in '70s 'Fatal Vision' murder case - latimes.com
He's lucky he doesn't have us on the jury. Guilty!! Don't you wonder after you've done such a heinous crime, as I believe anyways, how you can still try to fight to get out because you "didn't do it." Doesn't there come a time when you get real with yourself and everyone else? What's worse than killing your own children? Surely, not even prison for life.
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Did anyone see on the news about Jeffrey McDonald getting a new trial?
