2010.06.04 ~ Why won't Misty take a plea deal?

[doobiedoo52]

Misty has a good case actually. They will start out by asking Misty where she met Ronald, and it will be at a bus stop, and it will come out she was a 16 year old child at the time. Rons on tape taking the money and directing her where to exchange pills, we see him count the pills and then give them to Misty, like shes a mule.

She qualifies for the youthful offender program and I hope she gets it. Its worth the roll of the dice.

imo

Did she really meet him at the bus stop? Remember there is another story about how they met--her babysitting for AB. According to those stories, Misty herself began the process of alienating AB & RC: telling AB to leave him because he was abusive / telling RC to get his child away from AB. We only have one person telling us the bus stop story--the same one who told us MC was driving the van that day, making it quite suspicious to me. JMO

 

[Chablis]

I think that could open up a whole can of worms if the defense goes that route. Then the DA could bring in witnesses that had known Misty long before she met Ron Cummings and testify about what she had done prior to even meeting Ron. Imo, no one is going to believe Misty Croslin was an angel or some naive teenager before she met RC.

It is obvious Misty was not forced to participate in the drug trafficking. Misty made drug deals even without Ron being there. Her mannerisms showed she felt she was very much on top of her game.

imo

Right, but Misty is 18 and her past criminal record, if she has one is sealed under juvenile protection laws, so what anyone would have to say about her would just be considered hearsay and not admissible in court.

And she made mistakes, but I have a feeling she was a mule for Ronald Cummings and I think it can be proven, and I hope it does.

jmo

 

[Chablis]

Did she really meet him at the bus stop? Remember there is another story about how they met--her babysitting for AB. According to those stories, Misty herself began the process of alienating AB & RC: telling AB to leave him because he was abusive / telling RC to get his child away from AB. We only have one person telling us the bus stop story--the same one who told us MC was driving the van that day, making it quite suspicious to me. JMO

In a taped visit between Misty and Lisa, Misty and Lisa laugh about how they met at the bus stop.

 

[SoSueMe]

Isn't Florida a majority rules state? Convictions can be gotten with seven out of twelve jurors voting guilty, or something like that. That's how it is in murder trials. I would expect other trials to have similar rules. Where are our attorneys? I know Louisiana and Oregon aren't "unanimous jury verdict' states.

Misty could be thinking 30 - 50 years or so for drugs is better than life (or death) for murder? Or taking a chance with a trial is the best he can do for a client who won't talk?

[BBM]

Will this be a 12 person jury if it goes to trial? I think a 12 member jury is convened only for capital offenses, but IDK.

 

[SoSueMe]

Me either! Why would he cover for someone who he thought was responsible for the loss of his child. It makes more sense that she would be covering for him. I see that were on the same page here.

Exactly. Why would he? That's what we've all been asking for the last 16 months. He's done and said some really strange things during this time.

 

[SoSueMe]

Isn't Florida a majority rules state? Convictions can be gotten with seven out of twelve jurors voting guilty, or something like that. That's how it is in murder trials. I would expect other trials to have similar rules. Where are our attorneys? I know Louisiana and Oregon aren't "unanimous jury verdict' states.

Misty could be thinking 30 - 50 years or so for drugs is better than life (or death) for murder? Or taking a chance with a trial is the best he can do for a client who won't talk?

[BBM]

Misty was a minor when Haleigh disappeared. I don't think she could get the death penalty.

Yes, where are our attorneys, especially those familar with Florida law? I think they all hang out on the Casey Anthony forum.

 

[Peliman]

What I've come up with so far about Fla from the Wikipedia.

Trial jury size

About 50 prospective jurors awaiting jury selectionThe size of the jury is to provide a "cross-section" of the public. In Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78 (1970), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a Florida state jury of six was sufficient, and that "the 12-man panel is not a necessary ingredient of "trial by jury," and that respondent's refusal to impanel more than the six members provided for by Florida law did not violate petitioner's Sixth Amendment rights as applied to the States through the Fourteenth."[8]

_______________________________________

Juries are often justified because they leaven the law with community norms.[11] Occasionally, if jurors find the law to be invalid or unfair, they may acquit the defendant, regardless of the evidence that the defendant violated the law. This is commonly referred to as jury nullification. When there is no jury ("bench trial"), the judge makes rulings on both questions of law and of fact. In most continental European jurisdictions, the judges have more power in a trial and the role and powers of a jury are often restricted. Actual jury law and trial procedures differ between countries.

Would Fields be going for jury nullification?

Unanimous jury verdicts have been standard in Western law. This standard was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1897, but it was rejected in 1972 in two criminal cases. As of 1999 over thirty states had laws allowing less than unanimity in civil cases, but Oregon and Louisiana are the only states which have laws allowing less than unanimous jury verdicts for criminal cases.[33] When the required number of jurors cannot agree on a verdict (a situation sometimes referred to as a hung jury), a mistrial is declared.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury#United_States

That's my story and I'm stickin to it, kinda

 

[SoSueMe]

_______________________________________

Juries are often justified because they leaven the law with community norms.[11] Occasionally, if jurors find the law to be invalid or unfair, they may acquit the defendant, regardless of the evidence that the defendant violated the law. This is commonly referred to as jury nullification.

[Snipped]

Okay, but would a jury necessarily know about the minimum mandatory prior to their decision? Are juries informed of the punishing guidelines prior to deliberating?

 

[Peliman]

[Snipped]

Okay, but would a jury necessarily know about the minimum mandatory prior to their decision? Are juries informed of the punishing guidelines prior to deliberating?

Well not to my knowledge but I did see a comment that might make me believe juries may have some say in nullification cases. That maybe post trial though. It was my understanding sentencing was not a jury instruction nor was known.

If I were a lawyer, I might argue that IF I was going for nullification. Let's say I'm not legally educated to know how nullification works totally.

 

[1Chump]

"Her attorney, Robert Fields, said recently that a plea deal was not being considered.

"We're not in the business of giving up," he said." <snipped>

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-06-04/misty-croslin-gets-deal-deadline

This thread is for those who would like to discuss why Misty's attorney is saying a plea deal is not being considered.

IMO, Fields is the only attorney taking depositions which will end up helping LE with the Haleigh case. Misty is the last one going to trial. Tommy has pled no contest. Ron's trial date is set a month before Misty's. Once they are convicted, they cannot refuse to testify in Misty's case. It does not matter if they incriminate themselves, they are convicted. Misty's attorney is going to be taking depositions of both Tommy and Ronald. Not only will he get them under oath but he can ask questions about Haleigh's disappearance. Fields can easily use the defense that she was afraid of Tommy and Ron because of threats made against her over Haleigh. Then she has the right to ask questions of them for her defense.

IMO, the DA is not going to negotiate a plea. Either they are going to drop the charges against Misty or let her go to trial and support her in sentencing.

 

[1Chump]

[BBM]

Misty was a minor when Haleigh disappeared. I don't think she could get the death penalty.

Yes, where are our attorneys, especially those familar with Florida law? I think they all hang out on the Casey Anthony forum.

March 2, 2005 The Supreme Court on Tuesday abolished the death penalty for convicted killers who committed their crimes before the age of 18. The court ruling, closely divided at 5-to-4, affects 72 people in 20 states. The practice will also be banned for any future crimes.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4518051

********
The Supreme Court majority opinion said that we draw the line between childhood and adulthood as 18 for most purposes so it should be the same with the death penalty.

 

[bessie]

IMO, Fields is the only attorney taking depositions which will end up helping LE with the Haleigh case. Misty is the last one going to trial. Tommy has pled no contest. Ron's trial date is set a month before Misty's. Once they are convicted, they cannot refuse to testify in Misty's case. It does not matter if they incriminate themselves, they are convicted. Misty's attorney is going to be taking depositions of both Tommy and Ronald. Not only will he get them under oath but he can ask questions about Haleigh's disappearance. Fields can easily use the defense that she was afraid of Tommy and Ron because of threats made against her over Haleigh. Then she has the right to ask questions of them for her defense.

IMO, the DA is not going to negotiate a plea. Either they are going to drop tthe charges against Misty or let her go to trial and support her in sentencing.

So you think Fields will argue that Misty acted under duress in the drug deals. What evidence do you think will support that defense?

 

[Chablis]

So you think Fields will argue that Misty acted under duress in the drug deals. What evidence do you think will support that defense?

They may be able to argue she had some Stockholm Syndrome issue with Ronald. She was a child when they met and there is a lot of evidence to support he took advantage of her in lots of different ways.

jmo

 

[bessie]

They may be able to argue she had some Stockholm Syndrome issue with Ronald. She was a child when they met and there is a lot of evidence to support he took advantage of her in lots of different ways.

jmo

Possibly. But 1chump said Fields can "easily" show that Misty acted because of threats from Tommy and Ron regarding Haleigh's case. I'm interested in what that evidence might be.

 

[Chablis]

Possibly. But 1chump said Fields can "easily" show that Misty acted because of threats from Tommy and Ron regarding Haleigh's case. I'm interested in what that evidence might be.

Yeah, me too! It will be interesting to see how this all pans out, thats for sure.

 

[jessigirl]

Her mannerisms showed she was very much on top of her game? Take a good look at the first 20 seconds of one of the earlier sales in the series of transactions leading to the ultimate arrests:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=216Qy5FGr64

Misty was nervous and hyperventilating. It was Mr. Cummings who was reared back, relaxed, and handled the entire transactation.

As to being on top of a game, every one of these individuals gave criminals a bad name.

Every transaction we saw on video amounted to small quantities of pills that could be contained in one person's pocket. Instead of going to their source and purchasing the pills beforehand, they were apparently so broke they had to wait for the UC purchaser's money to be in hand BEFORE the merchandise could even be obtained thereby increasing their risk of discovery.

Most transactions involved more than one of them coming along. One video in particular shows Ronald Cummings, Hope Sykes AND Misty ALL piled into the UC's car to receive his money, be driven to their point of wholesale purchase, and ultimately complete the sale of 189 BIG OLE DOLLARS worth of illegal narcotics. Without knowing their wholesale cost, I would bet it was less than $100. Instead of ONE person buying the pills, and ONE person going to the meet for the exchange with the money, THREE of these people went along and now THREE instead of one are going to be doing serious, serious time behind bars.

Immediately before their arrest, Misty and Mr. Cummings PURCHASED pills from the UC for the first time and couldn't even pay for them. They arranged for credit terms of up to two weeks prompting Mr. Cummings to gleefully state "Man that's no problem. In two weeks I could work and make enough to pay you and EAT THEM MYSELF!"

On top of their game? I don't think I've ever seen a consortium of players who knew less about the game than these 5.

Amen!!! This post sums it all up (IMO). These 5 "thought" they were BIG fish in the little pond, when in reality they looked like little kids trying to "play" like grown ups. When I was little I used to "play" like I was "grown up" teacher/professor(as my mom is of a long line of teachers/professors on her side of fam) and what I see them doing is the same "playing grown up" drug dealers, as alot of their role models were&modeled such behavior in front of them as they were growing up.. IMHO

 

[lonetraveler]

Her mannerisms showed she was very much on top of her game? Take a good look at the first 20 seconds of one of the earlier sales in the series of transactions leading to the ultimate arrests:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=216Qy5FGr64

Misty was nervous and hyperventilating. It was Mr. Cummings who was reared back, relaxed, and handled the entire transactation.

As to being on top of a game, every one of these individuals gave criminals a bad name.

Every transaction we saw on video amounted to small quantities of pills that could be contained in one person's pocket. Instead of going to their source and purchasing the pills beforehand, they were apparently so broke they had to wait for the UC purchaser's money to be in hand BEFORE the merchandise could even be obtained thereby increasing their risk of discovery.

Most transactions involved more than one of them coming along. One video in particular shows Ronald Cummings, Hope Sykes AND Misty ALL piled into the UC's car to receive his money, be driven to their point of wholesale purchase, and ultimately complete the sale of 189 BIG OLE DOLLARS worth of illegal narcotics. Without knowing their wholesale cost, I would bet it was less than $100. Instead of ONE person buying the pills, and ONE person going to the meet for the exchange with the money, THREE of these people went along and now THREE instead of one are going to be doing serious, serious time behind bars.

Immediately before their arrest, Misty and Mr. Cummings PURCHASED pills from the UC for the first time and couldn't even pay for them. They arranged for credit terms of up to two weeks prompting Mr. Cummings to gleefully state "Man that's no problem. In two weeks I could work and make enough to pay you and EAT THEM MYSELF!"

On top of their game? I don't think I've ever seen a consortium of players who knew less about the game than these 5.

Oh Papa, you are so very right on this. This is a case of the blind leading the blind. Small timers at best.

 

[dodie20]

IMO, Fields is the only attorney taking depositions which will end up helping LE with the Haleigh case. Misty is the last one going to trial. Tommy has pled no contest. Ron's trial date is set a month before Misty's. Once they are convicted, they cannot refuse to testify in Misty's case. It does not matter if they incriminate themselves, they are convicted. Misty's attorney is going to be taking depositions of both Tommy and Ronald. Not only will he get them under oath but he can ask questions about Haleigh's disappearance. Fields can easily use the defense that she was afraid of Tommy and Ron because of threats made against her over Haleigh. Then she has the right to ask questions of them for her defense.

IMO, the DA is not going to negotiate a plea. Either they are going to drop the charges against Misty or let her go to trial and support her in sentencing.

I don't know about anyone else, but Tommy pleading no contest, freaks me out a lot more than Misty not talking deals. What does that say??? I know he was hoping for a real sweet deal, & him throwing himself at the mercy of the judge, just flat out confuses me. Where did his hope for the deal go?

 

[joeskidbeck]

Misty has lied so much in the last 16 months that there is no way LE will believe one word out of her mouth about HaLeigh. If (and this is what I believe) Misty does not know where HaLeigh's body is, she has nothing to offer. No plea deal unless she can actually produce something and she knows she cannot. I think Tommy knows where the body is but cannot tell because he will be incriminated. I don't believe either of these two were involved in the killing. MOO

 

[jessigirl]

I don't know about anyone else, but Tommy pleading no contest, freaks me out a lot more than Misty not talking deals. What does that say??? I know he was hoping for a real sweet deal, & him throwing himself at the mercy of the judge, just flat out confuses me. Where did his hope for the deal go?

His charge doesn't carry a 15-25 mandatory minimum. It's my understanding that his charge is for such a low amt of drugs that it did not put him up in the BIG long sentence minimum BRACKET, as Hope's did. And if I'm not mistaken he did take some sort of "deal"(and I assume that was offered because of his coming forward which led to the newest search).. As he spoke of this 3 year deal that he wanted to go ahead and take and was telling Momma Lisa to get his atty ASAP so he could sign off and take the 3 yr deal... This was all in the aftermath of Tommy finding out about Hope Sykes VERY LENGTHY sentence. I believe it skeered the bee-geezus out of him and instead of continuing to "hold out" for something better he wanted to get the 3 yr deal signed ASAP(probably before DA could/would change their mind&possibly take that deal off the table)
So knowing that, it does kinda make since for him to take what they were offering and not hold out any longer, after him seeing what happened to Hope(IMO).