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Plea should stand?

CattleArmy

Well-known member
Prosecutors Tell Judge Sen Craig Plea Should Stand
by The Associated Press

Posted: February 23, 2008 - 7:30 am ET

(Minneapolis, Minnesota) Prosecutors argued Friday that Sen. Larry Craig's appeal misinterprets the disorderly conduct law and his guilty plea in a bathroom sex sting should stand.

The Idaho Republican asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals last month to let him withdraw his guilty plea. His lawyers claim the state's disorderly conduct law would apply only if witnesses other than the police officer who arrested Craig had been present.

In the response, prosecutors also argued that a district court judge did not abuse his discretion, as Craig's lawyers contended, when he refused to let Craig change his guilty plea after he had entered it and paid his fine.

Craig was arrested June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by an undercover officer who said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a way that signaled he wanted sex. The senator was arrested in a broader sweep targeting men soliciting sex in the airport's bathrooms.

After news of his arrest became public in August, Craig denied the allegations, insisting his actions were misconstrued and that he's not gay. He said he pleaded guilty in hopes of resolving the matter quietly.

The disorderly conduct statute refers to conduct that a person knows or reasonably should know "Will, or will tend to, alarm, anger or disturb others" or "who engages in offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy conduct ... tending reasonably to arouse alarm, anger or resentment in others."

The prosecution said the law explicitly does not require that the prohibited conduct arouse "alarm, anger or resentment," just that it's the sort of conduct that would tend to do so.

As they've argued before, prosecutors said in their brief that Craig entered the plea voluntarily as part of a deal in which a more serious charge of interference with privacy was dropped, and that he should be bound by that agreement.

They also rejected claims by Craig's attorneys that even if he had used hand signals to communicate a desire for sex, such actions would be constitutionally protected free speech.

And the prosecutors disputed claims made in a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which said that even if Craig did seek to have sex in the bathroom, he had a legal expectation of privacy. The ACLU said his alleged actions weren't illegal. The prosecutors countered that Craig's alleged actions all took place in a public place.
 

passin thru

Well-known member
Ole Craig is stupid. Doesn't he realize the Reps don't want him. So what does the fool try to do..................change his plea which is a waste of time. All he would have to have done is change his party affiliation to Dem and he woulda been welcomed with open arms...............as evidenced by B Frank
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Craig is old news- but not forgotten... Denny Rehberg used him to get to Idaho Congressman Simpson...
They said Simpson was amused- but not surprised by the Montana humor...Some of the Liberal blogs did not think it humorous :roll: :wink:

From The Hill:
When you're from Montana, it's hard to find things to do - so practical jokes come in handy.
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) recently played a gag on Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) on their Middle East congressional delegation trip last month.

Rehberg left an "Idaho Travel Package" on Simpson's airplane seat.

Contents included a stuffed sheep with gloves attached to it (draw your own conclusions), a Village People CD, books on cross-dressing and sign language and a T-shirt that reads, "My senator may not be gay, but my governor is Butch."

Rehberg is proud of the gift bag. "I spent a bit of time putting the things together," he boasted.
 
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