Judge Chin said that after listening to Mr. Madoff's admissions at Thursday's hearing, he would decide whether to accept the plea and whether to remand him to jail pending sentencing in several months.
He said it was up to people to choose whether to act as good neighbours or let their children "play with kids who attend a different church", before making one last plea: "And whether you reach your own outstretched hand across dividing lines, across peace walls, to build trust in a spirit of respect – that's up to you".
You're put through the nightmare of extradition, and if you are sent to the US, you're immediately thrown in jail, where they wear you down pre-trial until you take a plea bargain, whether you're guilty or not – 98% of people don't get to trial in America.
The Judicial Conference committee asserts that "any member of the public who reviews the docket would be unable to determine, based on the plea agreement, whether a given defendant has cooperated".
The second half of the appeal centers on whether Gutierrez should have pursued a plea deal, and whether she might have actually lied to Syed about the possibility of obtaining one.
They're simply adversaries whose skill, compassion and sacrifice forge a resolution — whether plea deal, guilty verdict or exoneration.
"Most of the people in my office will memorialize plea offers and whether or not they're rejected," said Pete Clary, the public defender in Forsyth County, N.C.
It is unclear whether Rengan Rajaratnam has offered to cooperate with the government as part of any plea agreement or whether the talks will even result in him pleading guilty to insider trading charges.
In the driest of all the essays, we get an academic discussion about plea bargains and whether they are more or less likely to be used in resolving federal death-eligible cases in death penalty states.
In an earlier interview with The Times, the district attorney cautioned that the video "doesn't tell the whole story sometimes" but declined to detail what other evidence prosecutors examined when deciding to offer Garcia a plea deal, including whether Alford's current legal troubles played a role.
