Sean Taylor?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by D'BOYZ

yeah but he can persued the 3 people to remove the charges that way the DA can't do shit don't you remmember the first MJ case where he settle with the kid that pressed charges and the DA was left with nothing.

This is the same thing the DA has a case but if Taylor come to a deal with the 3 guys is over

The three people did not press the charges they are whitnesses. He cannot pay them off not to testify that is another crime in its self. Now if he is or is not convicted they may choose to sue him and in that case he could settle out of court. That was the case in the first mj case he was being sued by the other party and th DA was not involved.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by firstdown

The three people did not press the charges they are whitnesses. He cannot pay them off not to testify that is another crime in its self. Now if he is or is not convicted they may choose to sue him and in that case he could settle out of court. That was the case in the first mj case he was being sued by the other party and th DA was not involved.

Not knowing a tremendous amount about the inner workings of the case, that does sound a lot closer to the truth than all the optimistic posts floating around. I'm not sure if he will or will not be convicted, but if he is I know there is mandatory jail time because this is a gun crime. I don't think this is just a small thing . . . this is a huge deal and as you mention it is a felony, a gun crime, bascially big trouble. I hope if works out (and that ST doesn't make any more of these horrible decisions). Beyond that, doesn't it seem like the legal system has some really crazy sentencing poliices?

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by firstdown

The three people did not press the charges they are whitnesses. He cannot pay them off not to testify that is another crime in its self. Now if he is or is not convicted they may choose to sue him and in that case he could settle out of court. That was the case in the first mj case he was being sued by the other party and th DA was not involved.

If the police weren't present when the incident occurred (i.e., the police didn't witness it), then the 3 guys had to press charges by filing a report of some kind. If so, they are free to withdraw it, I believe.
http://www.usa101.com/en/qa/?zid=art...&articleId=569

I think, though, that at a certain point the DA can take the case forward without the cooperation of the victims. I'm not a criminal lawyer, though, so I can't comment on how that works. As far as I know, there is nothing stopping ST from entering into settlement talks to foreclose civil liability prior to the criminal trial. My guess is that it doesn't happen often because defendants don't want to admit anything until the criminal case is over.