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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCapitol rioter Hodgkins new lawyer claims a forgery on his signed plea deal
Bizarre' hearing unfolds as Capitol rioter claims signature was forged and tries to take back guilty plea
During a hearing Wednesday, Hodgkins' new attorney Carolyn Stewart claimed a handwriting expert will testify that someone forged her client's signature on the plea agreement. Hodgkins says he "can't remember what he signed and wouldn't have signed this version," according to reports.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Daniel Moss responded to Stewart's forgery claim by pointing out that Hodgkins stated under oath, during his plea hearing, that the signature on the agreement was his. Moss suggested that Stewart could be putting her client at risk of perjury charges if Hodgkins is now alleging his signature was forged.
Stewart responded that "no one knows what paper was sitting on the table in front of him" when her client entered his plea.
Judge Moss ultimately declined to take up the forgery allegation suggesting to Stewart that she could file a bar complaint against LeDuc.
https://www.rawstory.com/paul-hodgkins-guilty-plea/
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)underpants
(182,281 posts)Stewart responded that "no one knows what paper was sitting on the table in front of him" when her client entered his plea.
Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)The difference between a habeas proceeding and I guess a motion to, well it's hard to know what motion she's trying to argue: allow for an appeal maybe. They went through an extensive canvas about the factual basis for his plea when it was entered.
The guy got a very good result from his original lawyer: 8 months where the guidelines called for about 20. He had a real appellate issue if he had decided not to plead. But he had private counsel and it is large coin to pay a private lawyer to appeal a constitutional issue to the Supreme Court. So you do a deal. But the prospect of real prison gets scarier for a civilian the closer it gets. So you change your mind, throw more money at a new lawyer whose made representations that aren't realistic and so it goes.
underpants
(182,281 posts)I may have heard it wrong but it had to do with a health plan a large cinderblock company wanted to offer. It was a good plan but the states regulatory agency (Corporation Commission I think) said no. The owner had large coin and wanted to pursue it. The printing costs alone were $150K if memory serves.
Hodgkins first lawyer LeDuc has been deployed to Qatar. LeDuc filed a sentencing memo for the ages during the proceedings.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/capitol-rioter-paul-hodgkins-lawyer-argues-a-slap-on-the-wrist-would-heal-the-nation