This week brought an important development in Lindsay Lohan's ongoing legal saga: The starlet officially declared she would not take a plea deal, which would have involved some mandatory jail time, on felony grand theft charges for allegedly stealing a necklace from Kamofie & Company jewelry store. Instead, she will take her chances at trial. LiLo had already indicated that she wouldn't take any plea that involved jail time, so PopEater asked some legal experts to weigh in on whether going to trial is a good idea.
Gerald Lefcourt, a prominent New York attorney and past president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, points out that the question of whether to make a deal or go to trial is the critical question in every case. "One of the toughest and most important decisions an accused faces is whether to accept a negotiated plea offer or take the risk of going to trial and have her fate decided by a jury. That decision is even more difficult in high-profile cases where concerns about damaging pre-trial publicity, smart car accessories public sentiment about the accused and the ability to find a fair and impartial jury predominate. Pleading guilty eliminates uncertainty and is often the best way to mitigate the risk of receiving a harsher sentence if convicted after trial."
That same logic prompted most of the media to take the position that Lohan ought to have quit while she was ahead and taken the plea while it was still on the table. But when it comes to this particular case, Lohan might fare better at trial, says celebrity wholesale electronics accessories lawyer Ed Hayes, who has represented everyone from Diddy to Robert DeNiro and was the basis for the lawyer character in 'Bonfire of the Vanities.'
Hayes says the first question to ask is: wholesale pc parts Did she do it? "I wouldn't take a plea if she didn't do it," he says. Hayes believes this case will hinge upon whether the defense is able to produce evidence that supports the claim that Lohan borrowed the necklace for a photo shoot or other event with the store's consent. "Suppose they get a stylist who comes to court and says, 'Lindsay brought me the necklace because we were gonna use it for a shoot, and I forgot to bring it back.' If that's the case, she's gonna get acquitted," he says, adding that if she has a legitimate defense, it shouldn't be difficult to prove.Wholesale Battery
And in all fairness to Lohan, that isn't such a radically farfetched idea. She may be an easy target, but the reality is that there are many reasons to believe that she may actually be innocent this time around. For starters, she had $3,000 in cash with her at the time of the supposed theft, which we know because on the same visit to Kamofie & Company, she made a cash offer on a ring for that amount.Wholesale Computers
Also, it has been widely reported that the store owners have been shopping a book deal about the episode. "Trying to sell a book deal based on a relatively minor shoplifting incident is really scuzzy," says Hayes. And it undermines the complainant's credibility, indicating that they're just in it for the publicity and possible payoff.LASER POINTERS
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