Brad Cooper Pleads Guilty to 2nd Degree Murder of Nancy Cooper

[JusticeFever]

I agree, wasn't a good idea to post on a message board while being a witness in an ongoing trial. A friend of mine was in a similar situation recently, she was an expert witness in a criminal trial. She is also very outspoken. Experts often are. I really really pushed her not to engage in debate on the internet regarding areas of her expertise, which was difficult for her to resist as she was being attacked online.

In this case, the defense should have done a better job prepping Jay, including asking him not to comment about the case outside of the testimony.

I agree, in some cases I have followed, a gag order was issued to prevent anything like this from happening.
But, then again with all the social media, it is still hard to stay quiet sometimes.

 

[CentralAlberta]

Wow, this makes it a whole other ballgame then.......I think Jay Ward was treated unfairly then, although probably still not a good idea to post on a message board/forum while being a witness in an ongoing trial.

We should know what is going to happen by Monday.........we will either be proceeding to trial or hear Brad accepting a plea.

In the case of a new trial, we are probably looking at next year.....

In the case of a plea deal, what happens next? Is Brad resentenced for the extended certain amount of time? I know he is then returned to prison. Do both sides get to speak? How about statements from either side of the family? Since Brad is from Canada, will he be permitted to stay in the US after he serves time? What kind of restrictions will be face if/when he is released someday?
Thanks in advance.

Canadians with records are not allowed to enter the states so I doubt he would be allowed to stay, provided he doesn't win the appeal. If he is found not guilty he could probably stay, but why would he?

 

[Madeleine74]

He doesn't have a valid passport or visa, he's not a citizen of the U.S., and as a convicted felon and murderer, which he will carry with him for the rest of his life, by pleading guilty, his opportunities to secure employment with a US company sponsoring him is nil. Once he's released he'll be out of the U.S. and go back to Canada, I imagine. But that will be upwards of a decade away from now

If you read that document I linked to several days ago, you'll understand that he will be giving up several constitutional rights by pleading guilty. It's not a maneuver one does to "get out and clear their name." An admission of guilt is just that-- pleading guilty to felony murder.

By signing an agreement and completing the plea form, which will all be reviewed by the judge, he will be determined to be willingly, knowingly, and intelligently giving up certain rights and admitting he killed his wife.

 

[oenophile]

If you read that document I linked to several days ago, you'll understand that he will be giving up several constitutional rights by pleading guilty. It's not a maneuver one does to "get out and clear their name." An admission of guilt is just that-- pleading guilty to felony murder.

By signing an agreement and completing the plea form, which will all be reviewed by the judge, he will be determined to be willingly, knowingly, and intelligently giving up certain rights and admitting he killed his wife.

Is there any difference in an Alford plea? Or is it just semantics?

 

[Madeleine74]

An Alford plea is not claiming "I did it," but conceding the state has enough evidence to prove guilt in court and thus the defendant is taking the guilty plea. It's still a felony murder charge.

I don't think BC has been offered an Alford Plea. It sounded like it's a straight 2nd degree murder plea and by taking such a plea, he would be admitting, "Yes I did intentionally kill my wife and I am guilty of murder."

 

[JusticeFever]

Canadians with records are not allowed to enter the states so I doubt he would be allowed to stay, provided he doesn't win the appeal. If he is found not guilty he could probably stay, but why would he?

But, Brad already won his appeal.....we are talking about what will come next, a new trial or a plea deal now.

 

[JusticeFever]

Is there any difference in an Alford plea? Or is it just semantics?

For one thing, the sentencing is shorter and as just happened with Raven Abaroa, he was able to stand up and say he accepted the plea while still saying he did not kill Janet.

IMO, they are very different.

The jury was also allowed to consider a 2nd degree murder charge in this case.

 

[CentralAlberta]

But, Brad already won his appeal.....we are talking about what will come next, a new trial or a plea deal now.

Correct, my mistake. I meant wins the next trial.
Someone asked if B would stay in the US, which was what I was responding to.

 

[gracielee]

Out of order, but...



Thank you for that (and you don't need to make it too small to read...)



To flip it around, if BC gets this amazing plea deal offer, and he refuses it, doesn't that suggest to the BDI rationalizers that he is in fact innocent?

Nope, not to me. I watched the entire first trial, listened to all the evidence, and found him to be guilty. If he refuses the plea deal, fine. We'll all watch him get convicted again. He's guilty, he murdered his wife. There was never anyone besides Brad Cooper who wanted Nancy Cooper dead. He controlled her as much as he could, and now that she was finally working towards freeing herself from him, the most dangerous time for wives/girlfriends to be killed by their significant other, Nancy ends up dead. I've lost count, how many other dead morning joggers has Cary had since Nancy? I'm not thinking serial killer here.

 

[oenophile]

Nope, not to me. I watched the entire first trial, listened to all the evidence, and found him to be guilty. If he refuses the plea deal, fine. We'll all watch him get convicted again. He's guilty, he murdered his wife.

Clearly we disagree vehemently here, as I watched the same trial and found the evidence clearly pointed to his innocence.

There was never anyone besides Brad Cooper who wanted Nancy Cooper dead.

This statement fails on two counts. First, it presumes that Brad Cooper wanted NC dead. There is no evidence to support this. Second, it ignores that perpetrators of random crimes often want their victims dead rather than risk having them identify the perpetrator.

He controlled her as much as he could,

The EVIDENCE shows this statement to be absolutely false. NC was free to do what she pleased, spend time with her friends, visit her family, etc. The only thing that she was not free to do was a) spend the collective family money outside of the budgetary commitments of the family, and b) take the children out of the country.

and now that she was finally working towards freeing herself from him, the most dangerous time for wives/girlfriends to be killed by their significant other, Nancy ends up dead.

She was free to go when she wanted. What she wasn't free to do was take the kids out of the country without mutual parental consent.

I've lost count, how many other dead morning joggers has Cary had since Nancy? I'm not thinking serial killer here.

There were attacks on joggers around the time of this attack, although unrelated to this one.. However, the lack of future attacks is really meaningless, what matters is the evidence in this attack.

 

[JusticeFever]

Correct, my mistake. I meant wins the next trial.
Someone asked if B would stay in the US, which was what I was responding to.

No problem, I appreciate your reply.
Monday will have all the answers.

:cheers:

 

[MyBelle]

Nope, not to me. I watched the entire first trial, listened to all the evidence, and found him to be guilty. If he refuses the plea deal, fine. We'll all watch him get convicted again. He's guilty, he murdered his wife. There was never anyone besides Brad Cooper who wanted Nancy Cooper dead. He controlled her as much as he could, and now that she was finally working towards freeing herself from him, the most dangerous time for wives/girlfriends to be killed by their significant other, Nancy ends up dead. I've lost count, how many other dead morning joggers has Cary had since Nancy? I'm not thinking serial killer here.

BBM. With all due respect, this might be your opinion but there was no evidence presented at trial Brad wanted Nancy dead or that he was physically abusive in any way. Controlling spouses don't usually "allow" their wives to drink and party without them. Nancy did it frequently. Controlling spouses try to isolate their wives from friends and family. Nancy traveled and had a circle of friends.

There are pretty distinct characteristics to an abusive relationship that are not present in this case.

JMO

 

[JusticeFever]

BREAKING NEWS:

Brad Cooper Expected to Take Plea Deal Tomorrow:

http://abc11.com/news.brad-cooper-could-accept-plea-deal/317858/

Hearing at 10:am EST.....Judges Gessner, Manning and Hobgood.

Looks like this is it... I feel so bad that he has to do this, but I understand the reasoning,

JMO

 

[JusticeFever]

Another article saying he is expected in court with the plea deal on the table.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/21/4170464/brad-cooper-due-in-wake-county.html?rh=1

 

[Madeleine74]

BREAKING NEWS:

Brad Cooper Expected to Take Plea Deal Tomorrow:

http://abc11.com/news.brad-cooper-could-accept-plea-deal/317858/

Hearing at 10:am EST.....Judges Gessner, Manning and Hobgood.

Looks like this is it... I feel so bad that he has to do this, but I understand the reasoning,

JMO

He doesn't have to do this.

He could go to trial and "prove" the so-called tampering. Of course then again, he knows the truth.

This is 100% his choice.

 

[JusticeFever]

I can't speak for Brad Cooper or why this is the decision he is going to make, but it's my opinion, you never turn down a plea. Now, we have to hear exactly what the deal is, I understand WRAL will be streaming this LIVE so, I will be here at 10:00 am or shortly after.

This just leaves Jason Young now, as I think M. Peterson is also going to work out something. I doubt the state will retry the Peterson case although his attorney, David Rudolf has stated he won't take a plea, so I don't know for sure.

But, after tomorrow, this case, the Nancy Cooper case, will be closed.

JMO

 

[oenophile]

Another article saying he is expected in court with the plea deal on the table.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/21/4170464/brad-cooper-due-in-wake-county.html?rh=1

Geez, that article is awful and full of inaccuracies.

The evidence in the Cooper case was largely circumstantial.

The evidence in the Cooper case was entirely circumstantial, not largely. And virtually all trials are based on circumstantial evidence.

Jurors said afterward that prosecutors won with computer evidence that defense lawyers tried to quash.

Defense lawyers did not try to quash the computer evidence. The tried to enter evidence that discredited the prosecution evidence, and the judge denied them the opportunity to enter this evidence. The prosecution denied the defense access to computer evidence.

Gessner ruled against the defense’s attempt to classify two witnesses as forensics experts to raise questions about the computer evidence.

The defense did not attempt to classify the first witness as a forensic expert. They attempted to have him testify about the computer files, and the judge ruled that he could only testify if he was a forensic expert. The second witness was a forensic expert, the judge did not allow him to testify because he said that it violated discovery rules.


In addition, the only source the article cites as to BC accepting a plea deal is the Rentz's.

I am still skeptical that BC will accept a plea deal, mostly because the evidence points toward his innocence and I do not believe that he would accept a plea deal if he is innocent. But we will all know tomorrow, I guess.

 

[JusticeFever]

Just be here or watching/reading at WRAL at 10:am tomorrow.......

 

[Madeleine74]

I think he'll take the plea because he's guilty, he killed his wife, he knows the evidence against him is valid and real, he knows there is additional digital evidence against him that will come out in his new trial and be another nail in his coffin, and this is his golden ticket.

 

[oenophile]

I can't speak for Brad Cooper or why this is the decision he is going to make, but it's my opinion, you never turn down a plea.

There are almost no circumstances that I can imagine taking a plea for something that I did not do.

I have to agree with Madeleine74 on this one. Any plea is entirely his choice.