PA - infant Leon Katz murdered, twin injured, allegedly by babysitter, Pittsburgh- June 24, 2024

[SMK777]

It is pure speculation and based in large part on them seeking the death penalty as I just cannot see doing that without some evidence to say what she actually did to the children - put purely speculation

Oddly, my intuition was that they threw the death penalty in as leverage, due to NOT having enough hard evidence— in the hopes that she would fess up and work on a plea deal, so they would not have to spend exorbitant amounts of money on a trial. Just an intuition, though, so time will tell…..
@ChatteringBirds

 

[Tortoise]

Oddly, my intuition was that they threw the death penalty in as leverage, due to NOT having enough hard evidence— in the hopes that she would fess up and work on a plea deal, so they would not have to spend exorbitant amounts of money on a trial. Just an intuition, though, so time will tell…..
@ChatteringBirds

Do you or anyone else here know of any cases where the state has withdrawn the death penalty because the accused has not entered into plea negotiations and maintained their not guilty plea?

Personally I think they would come out of that with a stained reputation, especially then proceeding to trial with weak evidence.

I don't think you can go around threatening people with the death penalty to get a confession to something you cannot confidently prove BRD.

 

[SMK777]

Do you or anyone else here know of any cases where the state has withdrawn the death penalty because the accused has not entered into plea negotiations and maintained their not guilty plea?

Personally I think they would come out of that with a stained reputation, especially then proceeding to trial with weak evidence.

I don't think you can go around threatening people with the death penalty to get a confession to something you cannot confidently prove BRD.

No, but the idea is to get a plea of guilt to some charge, which is the point of a plea deal. I actually did know of a case involving someone my sister knew, in New Jersey, in 1998 involving homicide—the DA used the threat of the death penalty to get the defendant to plead guilty to a lesser charge in a plea deal.

They had evidence, but there were questions that might have raised reasonable doubt during a trial. In studying jurisprudence I came to understand that plea deals can be a prosecutorial manipulation.

 

[Tortoise]

No, but the idea is to get a plea of guilt to some charge, which is the point of a plea deal. I actually did know of a case involving someone my sister knew, in New Jersey, in 1998 involving homicide—the DA used the threat of the death penalty to get the defendant to plead guilty to a lesser charge in a plea deal.

They had evidence, but there were questions that might have raised reasonable doubt during a trial. In studying jurisprudence I came to understand that plea deals can be a prosecutorial manipulation.

I think it's an outrageous stance, malfeasance even, for a prosecutor to say we've accepted a plea of guilty of negligence having communicated publicly that there is evidence to support that crimes alleged were intentionally committed and serious enough to warrant the death penalty.

I would think the only acceptable negotiations in an instance such as this would be a confession to the crimes charged, perhaps with some mitigating circumstance, to commute the sentence to LWOP. JMO

 

[SMK777]

I think it's an outrageous stance, malfeasance even, for a prosecutor to say we've accepted a plea of guilty of negligence having communicated publicly that there is evidence to support that crimes alleged were intentionally committed and serious enough to warrant the death penalty.

I would think the only acceptable negotiations in an instance such as this would be a confession to the crimes charged, perhaps with some mitigating circumstance, to commute the sentence to LWOP. JMO

Probably. And since this is a case in the public eye, perhaps your second paragraph is the sole possibility here.

The case I’m thinking of was not very much in the public eye. And years later that prosecutor was charged with prosecutorial misconduct in several other cases, which is telling.

 

[steeltowngirl]

It’s not unusual for DA Zappala to bring death penalty charges. He did in 3 cases in 2022. Also, other years I found with a quick search, 2015, 2019, 2024. Likely more.

 

[Kittybunny]

DBM because as usual @steeltowngirl beat me to it! (And yay Steelers!)