Sean Taylors co-defendant may become a prosecution witness

[jksmith269]

This would spell big trouble for Taylor and the skins, if he knows anything.


Commanders | Police and Courts: S. Taylor
Sat, 2 Jul 2005 07:08:12 -0700

Nunyo Demasio, of the Washington Post, reports Charles Elwood Caughman, Washington Commanders S Sean Taylor's co-defendant, had his preliminary court hearing postponed because prosecutors hope that he accepts a plea bargain and becomes a prosecution witness against Taylor. Caughman faces a maximum of 15 years; there is no mandatory minimum sentence. His hearing was moved to July 11, one day before Taylor's hearing. If Caughman accepts a plea bargain, he will be added to the prosecution's witness list for Taylor's hearing, the state attorney's office said yesterday. They could have filed a misdemeanor against my client. But there's a headhunt for Sean Taylor, and we don't need to be caught in the middle of it. We're going to explore all our options, and do what's best for Charles," said Caughman's attorney Evan Hoffman.

 

[stag hunter]

obviously he knows everything about the case, he was right there. The issue will be whether or not he will incriminate Taylor (either legitimately or with misinformation so he can get a reduced sentence). They are only "casual acquaintances" according to the Post, so he might not feel any particular loyalty towards Sean. This is starting to look pretty bad for the skins.

 

[JDSmith]

Personally I don't take much from the fact that he's 'turned' prosecution witness. It's obvious that the prosecutors would love nothing more than to put it all on Taylor, since he's famous and they can garner the most attention. So they would push as hard as they could to turn one of his codefendents, and the other guy might just take the easy way out and turn - but the fact is he could simply be lying through his teeth to both exonerate himself and give the prosecutors exactly what they want at the same time. Throwing Joe Schmoe in jail on a weapons charge isn't going to earn any of the prosecutors a promotion or a place in public office, putting Taylor in jail might.

 

[notherbob]

They could have filed a misdemeanor against my client. But there's a headhunt for Sean Taylor, and we don't need to be caught in the middle of it. We're going to explore all our options, and do what's best for Charles," said Caughman's attorney Evan Hoffman.

Interpretation of legalese: Let's see how much money Sean Taylor offers my client to keep quiet.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Interpretation of legalese: Let's see how much money Sean Taylor offers my client to keep quiet.

or better yet how much ST offers for him to take the heat.

 

[Hostile]

Taylor's Co-Defendant Could Get Plea Bargain


Saturday, July 2, 2005; Page E02

The Miami-Dade state attorney's office has postponed the preliminary court hearing of Sean Taylor 's co-defendant, Charles Elwood Caughman , in the hopes that he accepts a plea bargain and becomes a prosecution witness against the Commanders safety, according to the defense attorney. Taylor has been charged with one felony count of aggravated assault with a firearm and faces a minimum sentence of three years.

Caughman, 19, of Baltimore, was charged with one felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (a bat). He faces a maximum of 15 years; there is no mandatory minimum sentence.


Commanders 2005

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Police investigate the shooting of a security guard at a rented mansion of LaVar Arrington.
Commanders training camp schedule
Sean Taylor's defense attorney says his client will file a not-guilty plea for his scheduled arraignment.
Patrick Ramsey, pictured, and the Commanders will use the shotgun formation for the first time in Joe Gibbs's career.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900938.html
Caughman's hearing -- a plea conference -- originally was scheduled for last Thursday. It was moved to July 11, one day before Taylor's hearing, when the 22-year-old officially will be provided an opportunity to accept the minimum sentence. If Caughman accepts a plea bargain, he will be added to the prosecution's witness list for Taylor's hearing, the state attorney's office said yesterday.

"What they are doing is using Charles as a pawn to get the top prize: Sean Taylor," said Caughman's attorney, Evan Hoffman , who said his client -- who knows Taylor casually -- was on vacation in Miami when the June 1 incident occurred. "They could have filed a misdemeanor against my client. But there's a headhunt for Sean Taylor, and we don't need to be caught in the middle of it. We're going to explore all our options, and do what's best for Charles.

"The state wants to resolve our case on July 11. But right now we have no reason to cooperate. I don't see the court proving its case."

Taylor's trial date tentatively has been set for Sept. 12 -- the day after the team's season opener against the Chicago Bears -- although it is expected to be postponed for several months through continuances requested by Taylor's attorney, Edward Carhart .

-- Nunyo Demasio

 

[InmanRoshi]

Personally I don't take much from the fact that he's 'turned' prosecution witness. It's obvious that the prosecutors would love nothing more than to put it all on Taylor, since he's famous and they can garner the most attention. So they would push as hard as they could to turn one of his codefendents, and the other guy might just take the easy way out and turn - but the fact is he could simply be lying through his teeth to both exonerate himself and give the prosecutors exactly what they want at the same time. Throwing Joe Schmoe in jail on a weapons charge isn't going to earn any of the prosecutors a promotion or a place in public office, putting Taylor in jail might.

Getting plea from the person with the lesser chanrge happens ALL THE TIME, to athletes and non-athletes.

Only when its a non-athlete, nobody cares and you don't have fans and apologists making conspiracy theories.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

This just proves how weak the case is to begin with. IMO.

I would be surprised to see this kid turn and even if he does it likely wont mean very much....except for the fact that he will be admitting guilt to a crime and likely face time.

 

[dargonking999]

This just proves how weak the case is to begin with. IMO.

I would be surprised to see this kid turn and even if he does it likely wont mean very much....except for the fact that he will be admitting guilt to a crime and likely face time.

I dont think its weak i think it lacks witness and evidnce to prove Taylor, and remember, Taylor is inccent untill proven guilty, so the proscution has to find a way to come up with witness and or eveidence that proves there case,

 

[SkinsandTerps]

I dont think its weak i think it lacks witness and evidnce to prove Taylor, and remember, Taylor is inccent untill proven guilty, so the proscution has to find a way to come up with witness and or eveidence that proves there case,

EDIT please. Geez.

Weak witness, Lack of evidence, = WEAK CASE. Their case should be solid without the help of a current defendant involved it the same case.

 

[dargonking999]

EDIT please. Geez.

Weak witness, Lack of evidence, = WEAK CASE. Their case should be solid without the help of a current defendant involved it the same case.

No Lack of witness Lack of Evidence=harder case

Once they get a witnes who was there, and i doubt there's any evidence they can use, (unless they find a bullet), then they will have a STRONG case as you say they dont have, right now they just dont have anything because the lack of it, which is not their fault.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

No Lack of witness Lack of Evidence=harder case

Punctuation is your friend....... Exactly.... Harder Case for the PROSECUTION., Meaning they currently have a WEAK CASE.

Once they get a witnes who was there, and i doubt there's any evidence they can use, (unless they find a bullet), then they will have a STRONG case as you say they dont have, right now they just dont have anything because the lack of it, which is not their fault.

They have people who were there, the problem is that they are the same people who likely took shots at a house and alledgedly stole 2 ATV's (Thus Zero credibility).

Extra, Extra read all about it........Sean Taylor is not accused of firing any shots...Shots were fired on a house that he was in and there are bullet holes in his Denali.

How could you not know the basic facts of the case by now ? Unreal.

 

[silverbear]

This just proves how weak the case is to begin with. IMO.

I would be surprised to see this kid turn and even if he does it likely wont mean very much....except for the fact that he will be admitting guilt to a crime and likely face time.

Sniff... sniff...

What's that smell??

Wait a sec, I know-- it smells like FEAR...

You keep on whistlin' past the graveyard there, Skins homer... everybody with a lick of sense knows if that guy DOES accept a plea bargain, you can stick a fork in Taylor, 'cause he's DONE...

 

[burmafrd]

Just keep telling yourself that. The prosecution will make Taylor out to be the thug he is. Its up to the jury to decide if he does time. As we all remember with OJ, its all about the jury. The DA would not have filed charges unless he thought he had a good shot WITHOUT the other thug. But any DA worth a nickel will keep trying to make his case stronger every day untill the trial starts- or a plea bargain happens.
Taylor was a thug and stupid- he frankly deserves to do time. He has no excuses- and just because he plays football doesn't mean a thing.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

Sniff... sniff...

What's that smell??

Wait a sec, I know-- it smells like FEAR...

You keep on whistlin' past the graveyard there, Skins homer... everybody with a lick of sense knows if that guy DOES accept a plea bargain, you can stick a fork in Taylor, 'cause he's DONE...

You should know by now that I am far from a homer... We have discussed this recently.

Why would anyone accept a plea agreement when the people who claim you committed a crime are not credible ? Seriously.....

That is just plain stupid.





Even if he

DOES

accept a plea that just means his credibility is lesser.

Would you agree ?

 

[silverbear]

EDIT please. Geez.

You first-- let's examine the errors in usage of the English language in YOUR first post, Professor:

This just proves how weak the case is to begin with. IMO.

"IMO" is not a grammatically correct sentence, it is a sentence fragment... had you put a comma after "to begin with", rather than a period, then you would have had a proper sentence...

I would be surprised to see this kid turn and even if he does it likely wont mean very much....

Contractions like the word "won't" require an apostrophe, which seems to be missing here...

The moral to this story is if you wish to play this board's English teacher, you'd be wise to first look to your own inadequate usage of the language...

Weak witness, Lack of evidence, = WEAK CASE. Their case should be solid without the help of a current defendant involved it the same case.

LOL... man, you're just the homer's homer, aren't you?? ANY good prosecuting attorned would be looking to "flip" somebody who was with Taylor at the time of the incident, as his testimony would be more compelling than that of the "victims"...

IOW, flipping a co-defendant would take an already adequate case and make it all but bulletproof... doing so is no indication of the prosecution having a "weak case", that's just wishful thinking on your part...

How pathetic you are, desperately hoping that Taylor beats the charges, with seemingly no thought given to whether he's guilty of the charges or not... you don't care, you just want your safety back on the field...

Anybody with a lick of decency, Skins fan or not, should be OUTRAGED at the mere possibility that Sean did such a thing... happily, most Skins fans have the right attitude about this, and most of them would be annoyed with you for witlessly backing the guy...

Seems you've already rushed to judgement, and decided that Taylor is innocent, but it also seems that the only reason you've reached that judgement is that you WANT it to be the case so badly...

 

[Avery]

It's never a good thing when your compadres do an about face. Maybe the guy realizes the severity of the situation and doesn't care about the rat label more than he cares about having his backside protected.

I think we can all agree that football should be the last thing on Taylor's mind right now.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

Just keep telling yourself that. The prosecution will make Taylor out to be the thug he is. Its up to the jury to decide if he does time. As we all remember with OJ, its all about the jury. The DA would not have filed charges unless he thought he had a good shot WITHOUT the other thug. But any DA worth a nickel will keep trying to make his case stronger every day untill the trial starts- or a plea bargain happens.
Taylor was a thug and stupid- he frankly deserves to do time. He has no excuses- and just because he plays football doesn't mean a thing.

Telling myself what ?

That is the job of the prosecution. We remember the recent MJ case dont we ? ....Reasonable Doubt. That is the bottom line.

DA's file BS charges all the time based on circumstancial evidence. That is the way of the system works. Sometimes you get a professional criminal...sometimes you dont. Take John Gotti as a perfect example of this.

Now I have said before on several occasions that if Taylor did the crime he deserves the time. I have no qualms about that. I am disgusted that he was stupid enough to put himself in this situation to begin with. But I need more than an alleged baseball bat wielding guy and a couple of alleged thieves to convince me. And I am pretty sure you would feel the same if the circumstances were reversed.

 

[silverbear]

Punctuation is your friend.......

Yes, it is... and an ellipsis is supposed to contain THREE periods... no less, no more...

For somebody who's so obsessed with criticizing others for their command of the written word, you sure don't write worth a crap...

Exactly.... Harder Case for the PROSECUTION., Meaning they currently have a WEAK CASE.

It means nothing of the sort... it just means that whatever case they currently have becomes STRONGER by having one of Sean's co-defendants testifying against him... it has always been my understanding that attempting to "flip" a co-defendant is a basic tactic of most good prosecutors...

They have people who were there, the problem is that they are the same people who likely took shots at a house and alledgedly stole 2 ATV's (Thus Zero credibility).

Yeah, that will be the defense's position when it comes time for cross-examination... so, it appears that you DO know that this is a stock tactic by prosecutors, given that you're aware of how a defense attorney will respond...

But when the jury finally retires to deliberate, they'll have an array of the "victims", versus Sean's version, and Sean's alone...

Sean Taylor is not accused of firing any shots...Shots were fired on a house that he was in and there are bullet holes in his Denali.

Which doesn't matter even one little bit, because in Floydada, even pointing a gun at somebody is a crime with a mandatory jail sentence attached to it...

 

[LaTunaNostra]

. But I need more than an alleged baseball bat wielding guy and a couple of alleged theives to convince me. And I am pretty sure you would feel the same if the circumstances were reversed.

Well, you're not going to get witnesses that sit on any board of trustees with this one. So what would it take to convince you?

But sure, Taylor's attorneys should have a field day with the witnesses as well as the accomplices.