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Plax's Lawyer Blames Bloomberg, Morgenthau For Indictment
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 4, 2009
Modified Aug 4, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 4, 2009
Modified Aug 4, 2009
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With former Giants star Plaxico Burress indicted on gun charges, his lawyer Benjamin Brafman said, "Although disappointed, we are not surprised, as the facts of this case have not been in dispute since the date of the incident. When you have the mayor and the district attorney both publicly demanding a maximum prison sentence, it was perhaps too much to hope for the grand jury to conduct a sympathetic review of the unique facts of this sad case."
Burress was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment, for the November 2008 incident where he accidentally shot himself in the leg with his own illegal-in-NY gun at a Manhattan nightclub. Mayor Bloomberg and Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau have had strong words against the player's actions, and Morgenthau's office was even hinting about charges against Burress's teammate Antonio Pierce (Pierce took Burress to the hospital and returned Burress's gun to his friend's home).
Ultimately, Pierce was not charged and he was unapologetic, "I am not sorry for how I acted that night. I am not sorry for how I responded. I am sorry for putting myself in position that I had to respond the way I had to respond. There (are) a lot of lessons I learned from this. I take them to heart and I take them seriously, obviously. It has been a lot of ups and downs."
As for Burress, Brafman said his client is ready to play, since the trial won't be till next year. However, it's doubtful any teams will sign him with the weight of a potential 3 1/2 to 15 year sentence.
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Antonio Pierce
giants
illegal gun
indictment
plaxico burress
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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