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From the diaries -- kos)
Cross-posted on The Next Hurrah
A bit of a chess game is developing in Texas, as Ronnie Earle attempts to make Tom DeLay pay for his sins. First, we had an indictment on conspiracy, a charge which carries a penalty of six months to two years in jail. "Conspiracy!" Republican operatives mocked. "This is just a conspiracy against Tom DeLay." And really, people said, conspiracy is just what you charge when you've got nothing better.
But then DeLay lawyer Dick Deguerin, who embarrassed Ronnie Earle in the Kay Bailey Hutchison case, files a motion to say the conspiracy statue didn't apply to campaign finance law in TX until September 2003, a year after DeLay dreamt up his little conspiracy.
Wham!! Just a few hours later, Earle (who seems to have snuck a new grand jury into his back pocket without Deguerin noticing) gets a jury to indict on money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Charges which carry sentences of up to life in prison for the money laundering charge, and twenty years for the conspiracy to commit money laundering.
An interesting chess game, so far. But what I'm really wondering is, did Deguerin just piss away the advantage he bought by waiving the statute of limitations on the conspiracy charge?
You see, as at least two people (including DKos' own Walt starr) have speculated, Deguerin may have had DeLay sign the waiver as part of a deal. He waives the statute of limitations. And then he only gets charged with conspiracy, not the more serious crime of money laundering. As Norm Pattis explains:
So why am I so sure he'll plead [guilty to conspiracy]? A line in the indictment notes that his lawyer waived the statute of limitations on the conspiracy charge during grand jury proceedings. Why would a competent lawyer waive a complete defense? Because worse was on the way if he did not.
Initiates know the practice as charge-bargaining. You see a funnel cloud barreling at you and you ask your local prosecutor, quietly, "on what charges are you willing to take my client if he pleads?" I suspect DeLay will enter a plea late in the year.
So Deguerin, thinking he's the smartest thing in Texas, waits for the first grand jury to run out, believing his guy is in the clear, then he starts attacking the lesser charge he bargained for.
Sometimes fancy lawyers can get just too fancy.
Update: As RonV points out below, it Deguerin may not have been the one who advised DeLay to accept a deal, if there is one. From the AP:
High-profile Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin was pulled into the DeLay defense team as it became clear he would be indicted Wednesday.
In which case, Deguerin would only have screwed up in the way he has dealt with what DeLay's previous lawyer gave him.