[Vision2020] Craig Files Brief to Change Guilty Plea

[Tom Hansen]

While reading this article, crank up your speakers and give a listen to . .
.

"Tap Three Times" By Doug Clark and Joe Brasch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5hmuqRdJFw

In the words of Senator 'Lusty Larry' Craig, "It's a real toe-tapper."

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>From today's (January 9, 2008) Spokesman Review

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Craig files brief to change guilty plea 
Appeal says actions 'invited' by officer
Betsy Z. Russell 
Staff writer
January 9, 2008

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig filed a 96-page brief in his Minnesota appeal in a
sex sting case Tuesday, arguing that he should be allowed to withdraw his
guilty plea to disorderly conduct charges in part because an undercover
officer "invited" the senator's actions in an airport restroom.

Craig was arrested last June in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul
Airport, where an undercover officer said the senator tapped his foot and
waved his hand under the stall wall in a manner signaling a desire for sex.
Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, but when the news broke in
August he said he'd erred in pleading guilty and began attempting to
withdraw his plea.

A district court judge already rejected that attempt, but Craig is appealing
to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

In two turbulent public appearances last fall, Craig denied being gay and
said it was his intent to resign from the Senate, but then he changed his
mind and decided to serve out his term. The longtime GOP senator's term ends
in January 2009.

In his legal filing Tuesday, Craig's attorneys argued that because
undercover police Sgt. David Karsnia responded to Craig's foot-tapping by
tapping his own foot, he invited Craig's subsequent foot-tapping and
hand-waving.

"A person committing disorderly conduct . must know that his conduct will
tend to arouse alarm, anger or resentment," the attorneys wrote. But they
said Craig could not have foreseen any alarm on Karsnia's part, "because
Sergeant Karsnia invited the alleged intrusion."

Craig's attorneys also argued that Minnesota's disorderly conduct law is
unconstitutional as used in Craig's case, because the foot-tapping and
hand-waving were forms of communication, and thus should be considered
constitutionally protected free speech. "It prohibits protected expressive
activity," they wrote.

And they argued that Minnesota's disorderly conduct law requires "others" to
be affected by the conduct, but said Craig's actions affected only Karsnia.

Craig's lead defense attorney, Billy Martin, issued a statement shortly
after the court documents were filed, calling it "manifestly unjust" that
the lower court rejected Craig's bid to withdraw his guilty plea. 

Craig had signed and mailed in a plea agreement. The senator paid more than
$500 in fines, received a stayed 10-day jail sentence and was placed on
probation for a year. He never revealed the arrest or conviction until a
Washington, D.C., newspaper, Roll Call, broke the story several weeks after
he'd mailed in his plea.

Prosecutors have 45 days to file their response to Craig's arguments.

Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which
oversees the Minneapolis airport and which brought the charges, said he was
confident the guilty plea will stand. "Facts are resilient, and Sen. Craig's
continued, transparent efforts to escape them don't change the truth of his
behavior in an airport restroom or the fact that he admitted guilt last
August," Hogan said.

Martin, in his statement, said, "throughout this trying time, Sen. Craig has
maintained his innocence and has remained a dedicated public servant who
continues to serve the people of Idaho with honor and distinction, as he has
done for the past 27 years."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If I wanted to overhear every tedious scrap of brain static rattling around
in your head, I'd read your blog."

- Bill Maher