Giant awakens in Burress case

[tjw61]

Giant awakens in Burress case
Posted by Mike Florio on July 27, 2009 8:29 AM ET
19.jpgIt took nearly eight months, but it finally has happened.

Prosecutors are poised to throw the book at Plaxico Burress.

Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau says that his office wants Burress to spend significant prison time for carrying an unlicensed and loaded firearm in New York City on Thanksgiving weekend, 2008.

The evidence against Burress is fairly clear, given that the gun he allegedly kept in the waistband of his sweatpants blazed a trail through his thigh.

"We've always taken the position that he's going to have to go to jail, whether by trial or by plea," Morgenthau told the New York Post.

Morgenthau also disclosed that plea discussions broke down with prosecutors insisting on a two-year prison stay, and with Burress willing to do only one year behind bars.

That contention is perhaps the biggest surprise, given Giants radio and NFLN play-by-play announcer and Sirius NFL Radio host Bob Papa's report from late May that Burress balked at a two-month term because he's "deathly afraid" of going to jail.

Of course, it's possible that Burress turned up his nose at a relative slap on the wrist earlier in the year, and that Morgenthau only recently has decided to push the case aggressively.

The D.A.'s new stance possibly results from public pressure that mounted after a three-month continuance of the case in June, which created the distinct impression that Burress would be able to play football this year before having to deal with the charges in early 2010. (The Commissioner has since thrown cold water on that possibility, with a suspension likely coming soon.)

In our view, lawyer Benjamin Brafman didn't help matters by calling out Mayor Michael Bloomberg for publicly stating that people who carry guns illegally in New York are destined for the "slammer" while keeping quiet on the Bernie Madoff case.

So with any chance of a favorable plea deal gone, Brafman is preparing for a fight.

"Now that they have drawn a line in the sand, this is going to be a battle," Brafman said, adding that he is "bitterly disappointed" that a plea deal has been rejected and that the case will proceed.

Burress might be more than bitterly disappointed before it's all said and done. If he's convicted, Burress will face a mandatory sentence of 3.5 years.

[ken]

Why would a man 6'5'' about 240 pounds of muscle and in great shape need to carry a gun?

He needs to spend some time in prison. Maybe them cons can talk some sense into his head. I wonder if they will send him to a minimum security or maxim?