• flossdaily@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    The RICO charge carries a mandatory 5 years that canā€™t be pardoned and canā€™t be paroled. And RICO is stunningly easy to get a conviction on. It was built to catch mob bosses who directed activity but didnā€™t get their hands dirty.

    Until the RICO charge, I didnā€™t think heā€™d see prison eitherā€¦ but nowā€¦ looks pretty good.

    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Unrealistic optimism aside, the chances of any of these cases getting to trial before the 2024 election are slim. Trump is a master of delay tactics, and even the prosecution seems willing to defer to him in ways that they wouldnā€™t do for any other defendant. Add 19 co-defendants to the mix and the chances of trial before the election drop like a rock.

      And prosecutors need to stop dog-piling the charges on. Not that he doesnā€™t deserve it. But every new set of charges lends credibility to the argument he makes saying ā€œI have so many legal cases on my plate that I cannot adequately contribute to my own defense, therefore we need to delay this trial.ā€ .

      And heā€™s 77 years old, living on a steady diet of big macs, and essentially already living on borrowed time. Thereā€™s the very real possibility he could simply drop dead of natural causes long before heā€™s ever in real danger of seeing the inside of a prison cell.

      • iamdanno@lemmy.zip
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        11 months ago

        Thereā€™s the very real possibility he could simply drop dead of natural causes long before heā€™s ever in real danger of seeing the inside of a prison cell.

        We can only hope. . . .

      • buddhabound@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        He certainly can contribute to his own defense. He is choosing to run for president (to try and avoid accountability for his crimes). If he seriously wanted to beat the charges, he could suspend his campaign.

        He is a defendant, and a rich one at that. There are countless defendants in cases every day that have to choose between hiring sufficient counsel that can offer a good defense and paying rent or buying groceries for their children.

        Trump is affluent enough (and has enough people willing to donate to pay his legal bills) to be able to focus on these charges and nothing else, but he tries to get sympathy for his own choices.

        I have none to offer him.

        • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          He certainly can contribute to his own defense. He is choosing to run for president (to try and avoid accountability for his crimes). If he seriously wanted to beat the charges, he could suspend his campaign.

          He is being charged in four different jurisdictions and counting up and down the east coast, not counting his civil lawsuits. Yes, he absolutely should suspend his campaign. But heā€™s not going to because even he knows itā€™s the only way heā€™s avoiding being found guilty. But even if he werenā€™t a presidential candidate, asking one person to be able to competently contribute to their own defense in multiple jurisdictions in such a short time becomes more unreasonable with each case. Youā€™re absolutely correct if weā€™re talking about one case or even two. But once youā€™re talking about so many charges in so many jurisdictions in just one year, and the argument that he canā€™t competently contribute to his own defense becomes more and more valid. And the last thing you want is an appeals court throwing a conviction out later based on that.

          Of course, the simple way he could have avoided the issue is to not commit crimes in the first place, but here we are. And even Trump deserves to be able to competently contribute to his own defense.

          He is a defendant, and a rich one at that. There are countless defendants in cases every day that have to choose between hiring sufficient counsel that can offer a good defense and paying rent or buying groceries for their children.

          Oh he absolutely has the resources to hire competent counsel (assuming he can find any willing to take him on). But those legal teams would have to worry about 1 case each. He still has to participate in four. You would be describing a situation of ineffective counsel. Iā€™m talking about the sheer number of cases in such a short time impacting his ability to contribute to his own defense.

          Trump is affluent enough (and has enough people willing to donate to pay his legal bills) to be able to focus on these charges and nothing else, but he tries to get sympathy for his own choices.

          I have none to offer him.

          I donā€™t think anybody does. But I want him to be able to contribute to his own defense competently when heā€™s found guilty so the case doesnā€™t get thrown out on appeal.

        • dhork@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Why would he suspend his campaign? Itā€™s his campaign thatā€™s paying his legal bills. If he suspended campaigning heā€™d have to pay for all that shit out of the $2 Billion Jared got from the Saudis.