Today in Syracuse City Court, Delone Carter was offered and accept a plea to the reduced charge of Harassment in the Second Degree, in satisfaction of the originally-charged Assault in the Third Degree. I hate to brag, but when news of his charging came back in April, I predicted a plea to Harassment. Told you so.As is normally the sentencing for a conviction on Harassment 2nd, Carter received a one-year conditional discharge. Essentially what this means is, instead of receiving jail time (the maximum on Harassment 2nd is 15 days), he is being discharged from the Court under certain conditions. Though I have not seen any official release on what his conditions might be, I can almost certainly surmise that he must obey all laws, and pay a court-mandated surcharge of $120. He may also have received a fine of up to $250, and may have been ordered to pay restitution for any medical bills incurred by the complaining witness (whom I suppose we can officially call a victim now). Carter's failure to comply with any of the terms of his conditional discharge can result in him being violated on his conditional discharge, which would then allow the judge to resentence him to any permissible sentence for Harassment 2nd. In other words, 15 days in jail.
And so ends the long drawn out legal journey for Delone Carter. In pleading guilty, he had to give up his right to remain silent and describe to the judge what actions he took during the night in question that amounts to the legal definition of Harassment 2nd. Legally, Harassment 2nd is a violation level offense (not a crime, on the same level as a traffic ticket), and is defined as "acting with the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm by engaging in physical contact with another." This is a rather catch-all definition that does not look at the extent of the injury. Degrees of injury are relevant in the different degrees of assault charges. Harassment just looks at the physical contact, and the intent of the actor. Carter, in court, admitted to punching the victim without provocation, having no right to do so. In a case like this, the actor's intent can be inferred by his conduct. Having no legitimate purpose to punch someone and walk away, it can be inferred that his intent was to harass, annoy, or alarm the victim.
In the few hours since this story broke this afternoon, much has been made about Onondaga District Attorney William Fitzpatrick's press release about Carter's guilty plea and his defense of the victim in this case. Orange Fizz has some pictures of Fitzpatrick's statement, so be sure to check that out. The release seems as much an informational release as it does campaign fodder. While I understand he feels the need to defend the victim (and you have to feel sorry for a kid who comes into your office asking how to fix his reputation), I think Fitzpatrick was unfairly scathing to media outlets, blogs, etc., who have provided a forum for people to speak out on this case. The victim has gotten a bad rap, and most comments I've seen or heard from people on comments sections or in conversations have been critical of the victim; but let's not forget, this victim thrust himself into the limelight here. He could have chosen to not release those pictures to the newspaper. He could have chosen to not post pictures and messages on facebook. The fact of the matter is, he chose to do so. By choosing to put himself out there, he essentially makes himself a public figure and -- rightly or wrongly -- subjects himself to the whims of the internet message boards where people can hide behind the anonymity of a screen name and say whatever they want.
I guess it's fair to say there are lessons to be learned all around. Carter shouldn't have punched the guy. The guy shouldn't have tried to get sympathy by publicizing his plight. People who sit on message boards all day should get a job, or get fired from the job that allows them to sit on message boards all day. Everyone is at fault.
But in the end, this is a fair (and expected) resolution to the case. In fact, Fitzpatrick stated in his release that this plea offer had the blessing of the victim. The victim could, of course, pursue monetary damages against Carter in a civil court; but I think he'd be best advised to put this all behind him, if he's truly interested in salvaging a reputation. Suing Carter just reopens wounds and makes Joe Public think "Won't he just go away?"
As for me, I'll continue to stay away from the Kimmel area on late, dark, snowy nights.
Labels: Delone Carter, Syracuse Football
The wheels of justice move slowly
Jim O'Hara of the Syracuse Post-Standard reported today that Delone Carter's court case has once again been postponed. I figured I would share my thoughts on what I think is going on and try to put some legal perspective on this for you sports fans who want to understand a little more.
According to the PS story, no reason was given for the postponement, no return date was given, and neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney would comment on the status of the case. I think it's safe to assume that there actually is a date for them all to return to Court, unless the case has been placed on the trial calendar and that date just hasn't been set yet. But if that were the case, the attorneys probably would have said so.
Honestly, I'm a little perplexed by the inactivity and the lack of news at this point. On the defense side, Delone may have instructed his lawyer (or his lawyer could have come up with this strategy) to not publicly comment on the case until its conclusion. After all, Delone is sitting pretty good right now: he's free pending ultimate resolution to the case; he was readmitted to Syracuse University; he was welcomed back to the football team and has started both games thus far. Why draw attention to a legal matter at this point? The longer this case languishes, the better of Delone is. Certainly much better than a trial next week, which could result in a conviction, which could send him to jail. So, if I'm Delone I'm in no hurry to move this case forward.
From a prosecutor's point of view, there may be a heightened sense of urgency. If any of this delay time is due to the prosecutor not being ready for trial, that time will count against Delone's right to a speedy trial (rights embodied in the US and NY Constitutions as well as NY statutory law). If too much delay time is chargeable to the prosecutor, the case could be dismissed. However, as I mentioned above, my thought is that Delone has probably agreed to the delays; he can waive his speedy trial rights for any number of reasons, most commonly to continue plea negotiations.
Something I noticed the last court update I heard, which continued at this update, was that Delone has evidently retained new counsel. As you will recall, his initial attorney was George Raus. He is now being represented by Kimberly Zimmer. According to the attorney directory on the NY Courts website, they have offices at different locations, so I assume they're not affiliated. The counsel switch could be part of the reason for the delay, but Ms. Zimmer should be up to speed on things by now.
Even more telling is that, according to Jim O'Hara's story, the prosecutor in court today for the appearance was Chief Assistant District Attorney Joseph Coolican. From my experience, the Chief ADA would rarely, if ever, handle a simple misdemeanor assault case. Could it be the high profile nature of the case? The intensity of the negotiations? A complex legal issue being argued to the judge? Or, simply, a staff scheduling issue that had the Chief ADA covering City Court? Any of these are possible.
So where does this leave us? Obviously, with a lot of questions and few answers. I still believe the parties are working diligently to resolve the case. At any rate, I would expect within the next month for there to be a resolution to the case or an announcement that it is going to trial. Till then, Delone Carter will be running all over the likes of Maine, Colgate, [the ever dreaded Bye Week], and South Florida.
Labels: Delone Carter, Syracuse Football
Is no news good news?
Delone Carter was due back in Syracuse City Court this afternoon for a Pretrial Conference. We learned that this appearance was cancelled at his attorney's request, and currently don't know when the next date will be.
What does this mean? Well, it could be a number of things. My initial reaction was that there's still not a deal worked out with the District Attorney's Office, and Carter & his lawyer wanted more time to work that out. But, typically, the Pretrial Conference is actually that opportunity to engage in plea negotiations. So that might mean that Carter is still gathering evidence or doing something else to put together a package for the DA. In other words, maybe he's not done with that 200 hours of community service that he reportedly will have to do to get back into school -- and he wants to negotiate with the DA having completed that. And quite frankly, I think he gets a better deal if the DA knows that he's back in full standing with the University.
A fair number of my criminal cases also have a companion family court case, both arising out of the same incident (DV or some visitation issue or whatnot). I often delay the criminal case as much as possible until the family court case is resolved, so then I can go to the DA and say "this was really a family court issue, and it's all resolved now, so please give my client a break." This could be the Delone Carter strategy.
Or, a very plausible explanation is that Carter's lawyer was double-booked today or on vacation. Lawyers are people, too.
As more information becomes available on the status of the case, Orange::44 will keep you updated on what it all means, so keep coming back!
Labels: Breaking The Law, Delone Carter, Syracuse Football