2/15 When capital punishment is on the table, and people are cooperating, but you're in a state where pursuing the death penalty is politically unpopular, the state prosecutor would likely be swayed by an early plea deal offer to not pursue capital punishment.

3/15 But, that hasn't happened yet, and MAGA is desperately trying to make it a federal case (via hate crime or RICO claims) in order to ensure that no plea deal can be reached at the state level.

4/15 But a good defense attorney, is going to see a few things: 1) The crime scene was deeply compromised People were stealing hats and walking in and out of the crime scene for more than 30 minutes after the shooting.

5/15 2) It took police about 40 minutes to formally lock down the campus, supporting point #1, and the temporarily arrested another man who had shouted "he had done it" (The man is mentally unwell and known as a local trouble maker but it still muddies reasonable doubt for a

6/15 3) Kirk was transported in a private vehicle to the hospital, and so chain of custody will absolutely be argued here, as its likely he was already deceased.

7/15 4) False reports by unknown individuals tried to paint a political picture of Robinson in the news - this ones a long shot, but defense will ask *every* potential juror if they had seen this claim about a friend who said he was a leftist, and try to claim mistrial due to

8/15 5) Law enforcement leaked, overembellished and attempted to paint a specific narrative from the start, so defense will argue how can you trust any of their evidence.

9/15 To make their case that the FBI was trying to push this politically, they may even take a really rare step in seeking to subpoena communications between the FBI and the Press to show intent.

10/15 And, if Kash does try and push for the federal case, even in front of a friendly judge, they then have to climb the high bar of either proving hate crime or RICO, which basically need written proof or recorded audio.

11/15 Kash was slow, only got this kid because his family turned him in, and put out mixed narratives for a political cause in the court of public opinions. That is the kind of stuff that tanks a trial.

12/15 They already would have had a hell of a hard time getting a young Mormon guy given the death penalty in the most heavily Mormon district in Utah, and now they may have a struggle to even get a conviction if he doesn't cooperate.

13/15 You have to remember, in our legal system, it's the job of the defense attorney to either defend your innocence (or at least get the death penalty off the table) no matter what. Even if you did it. And so if you can win on a technicality - you bet your ass they'll try.

14/15 In a case like this, I would have expected that the shooter would be cooperating already and seeking a plea, or making the argument that their cooperation merits not pursuing the death penalty. The fact they aren't is telling.

15/15 And I assume it's because some experienced (likely Mormon) defense lawyer saw a high profile case, and saw Kash over here dropping the ball and went "yeah, that's a shoe in" It's another reason why we don't put inexperienced partisan hacks in charge of things.

PS - and lets be clear, I'm not saying he will get off with this crime, nor that he should. I'm just saying any defense worth their weight in salt sees Kash's screw ups have left a massive opening that they'd be foolish not to try for, and that's likely the only reason that he'd

Exhibit A for the defense will be shit like this. Claiming Trump officials said this, but Trump won’t take the stand of course, which just leaves doubt that prosecutors can’t easily patch.

@adamscochran This is starting to sound a lot like how they screwed up the Luigi Mangione case and he might walk because of it

@sandibachom Exactly

@adamscochran Did he actually admit to his parents that he committed the crime or did he just tell them he was simply the person in the surveillance picture? I’m hearing conflicting information on that score.

@Z8916660165 No idea, and we’ll never get the truth on that. A minister can’t be compelled to testify. And while a parent can, prosecutors almost never use it, as juries would find forcing a parent to testify against their child in a capital punishment case so heartbreaking that they will

@adamscochran You gotta wonder.... why did his crew immediately flip lmao

@NateLyn11519676 Cause it was a bunch of gaming geek ex-Mormon kids not wanting to get in trouble with the cops, not a criminal gang…

@adamscochran You're saying that allowing him time to get a good attorney was bad law enforcement ("missed their window") ("now likely has a good attorney")? Whatever he's done, he should have a good lawyer. Bemoaning the possibility he won't then face execution is vengeance, not justice.

@Elliot_Lake No, they missed their window not in a time sense but in threading the needle to meet their own high bar of wanting capital punishment. It’s worth actually reading the thread before making retorts calling it bemoaning.

@adamscochran The crime scene should have been cordoned off immediately by local cops. The scene was clearly tampered with. When the story broke, the FBI should have responded promptly. The local police & Patel have some 'splainin to do. Btw, Patel has no idea what he's doing.

@PatPat3861 Yeah even campus police should have secured the scene before local police, it’s wild how badly it was managed at all levels

@adamscochran @AntiToxicPeople Are any of our US civil rights sacrosanct now? Constitution's Fifth Amendment protects people from being forced to give incriminating testimony.

@8fuld @AntiToxicPeople Nothing here is disputing that? My point is an analytical one, that when young people are arrested in capital punishment cases, both them and their lawyers tend to push for cooperative plea bargains in exchange for removing death penalty. Not doing so signals confidence of an

@adamscochran One thing bothering me is Nick Sortor's post claims they have cell phone pings. If so, why wasn't that in the PC affidavit to establish the alleged shooter was there at the crime? Was the video of the man on the phone someone else? https://x.com/nicksortor/statu...

@ClockworkLin No this is just clearly bs. If you have hard evidence you don’t delay to “smoke someone out” you just go get them. Also cell phone pings can’t be the first piece of evidence because: A) There were a lot of them there B) You need a warrant for them So they would have got the