Lawrence Talyor Indicted - Now What Happens?
Today, The Rockland County District Attorney's office took a major step forward against former NY Giant star Lawrence Taylor by indicting him on a statutory rape charge and other misdemeanor charges.
While this scandal will be big news and give the local NY papers some outrageous headlines, let's use this opportunity to get "technical" on the legal process of what happens to LT next.
The DA has now had a grand jury accuse LT of certain sexual abuse crimes carrying a sentence of 4 years in prison. When this indictment is reported to the local criminal court, the judge will transfer the case to Rockland County's Supreme Court (not the highest court in NY - only the trial level). The Supreme Court hears cases after a defendant is formally indicted, Once the case is transferred, LT's will shortly have his first court appearance and the judge (now in Supreme Court) will set a discovery schedule, which will mostly involve police reports, witness statements and evidence tests.
After discovery is complete, the court will select a trial date. It is important to note that Rockland County is not a particularly busy county for serious felonies like this case. As such, LT could get a trial date right after Labor Day.
One more thing to keep your eye on in criminal procedure of this case is the DA's inclusion of misdemeanor charges on the indictment. This could give the DA some flexibility to plea bargain if this case goes bad. If the DA is concerned that he will not get a felony conviction, he can dismiss the statutory rape charge and plea LT to a misdemeanor. Under NY law, a misdemeanor plea can give the DA wide latitude to offer "non-jail" dispositions, like probation, community service and fines.
Although technical nature of the case won't make headlines, it good to have important things in mind as LT enters the fight of his life.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.