Will we see Marcus Sales back in action soon?
For you non-legal-types out there, "no true bill" is the term for when the Grand Jury chooses to not indict someone on felony charges. Those were Marcus Sales' three favorite words, as The Post-Standard reports that all charges have been dropped against Sales from the traffic stop over the summer.
While this wasn't entirely a shock -- in fact, I mentioned in my original article that this could be a potential outcome -- it certainly wasn't expected and not something you see all the time (or even often enough to say that it happens). But it seems like all the blame is being placed on Sales' brother. It could be because that's where the evidence led the police; or it could be because Sales' brother took all the blame for it. See, the thing about the Grand Jury is, it meets in private. Its proceedings are private. So we may never know what was presented to the Grand Jury, how they viewed it, and why they reached the decisions they did.
What is shocking to me is that the Post-Standard story quotes Senior Assistant District Attorney Michael Ferrante as saying all other charges against Sales have been dropped and sealed as well, not just the felonies for which he faced indictment. So that means the open container, misdemeanor possession charge, the marijuana charge -- all gone. As if none of this ever happened. I figured the open container and marijuana charges could stick, at least, along with the other traffic infractions. It seems, however, that this was just prosecutorial discretion in choosing to not move forward on those charges.
The other theory here is that Marcus and his attorney reached an agreement with the District Attorney's Office to grant him immunity on all these charges in exchange for his truthful testimony against his brother. In that case, Marcus could have testified before the Grand Jury in the case against his brother, and would also be forced to testify at any jury trial against his brother. This, of course, is just conjecture at this point, but it certainly would explain why no charges are being pursued against Marcus. If this is the case, I would certainly also expect that Marrone & Co. were part of negotiations with Marcus & his lawyer to work out an arrangement for him to rejoin the team. Evidently we'll hear from Marrone after practice today, so that may clear up some of my hypothesizing.
Still, though, a very interesting turn of events. If Marcus does return to the team, let's hope he's been staying in game shape. He'd certainly be a great readdition to this offense!
Labels: Orange44 Lawdogs, Syracuse Football
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