Why Additional Co-Defendants Will Flip on Trump

WASHINGTON - Oct. 23, 2023 - PRLog -- At least 3 defendants charged in Georgia have already agreed to flip on Donald Trump, and many more are likely to do so in the future, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who suggested this strong possibility months ago, predicted that Chesebro would follow the lead of Powell in flipping, and filed the original criminal complaint against Trump which triggered his investigation and subsequent indictment.
Law Professor's Complaint Leads to Investigation Into Trump's 'Find 11,800 Votes' Call (https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2021/02/09/law-professors-complaint-leads-to-investigation-into-trumps-find-11800-votes-call/)

While some of the reasons why several of the remaining co-defendants are likely to flip are the same as those in routine criminal cases, some are unique to the unusually higher probably of conviction under Georgia's broad RICO statute, and to the unavoidable penalties to be imposed upon conviction.

Most criminal defendants plead guilty for the simple reason that prosecutors usually bring only cases which they are likely to win at trial.  Indeed, of those criminal cases which are not plead out and do go on to trial and verdict, defendants are almost always found guilty.

So any defendant offered the opportunity to plead guilty, in exchange for a substantially less severe sentence than a guilty verdict would likely bring, is under tremendous pressure to cop a plea, even if that requires that he testify against co-defendants.

But an abstract sense of loyalty to co-defendants doesn't have much force when balanced against the likelihood of a substantial prison sentence.

Even if wishful thinking leads them to believe that they have only a small chance of being convicted, defendants facing even the small possibility of years of mandatory prison time with no chance of parole, as well as the certainty of enormous legal fees and the additional possibility of even larger monetary judgments under RICO, are likely to accept plea deals which guarantee them little or no punishment, rather than clinging to a possible misguided loyalty to Trump, says Banzhaf.

Moreover the example provided by these 3 Georgia defendants who have now also gotten away without any prison time or major financial impositions are likely to encourage the remaining defendants to try to follow their lead, and it has been reported that plea offers are being made to most of them.

However, only those who come forward the earliest, and have the most valuable testimony to offer, are likely to escape prison - especially since so many involved in the events of January 6th have been sentenced to considerable terms behind bars.

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf