"In the Stiglich case, they charged him with voluntary manslaughter claiming it was a crime of passion. In that case, the victim did not even have a firearm. In our case, the victim had a firearm and it was basically a home invasion."

 An offer was made in the Benjamin Carter case; he is the suspect that called LOCO on the lam instead of his defense attorney and is charged with the murder of Zachery Chapman.

Please see post below for details and background. If you want the gist, I explain the offer below.

I spoke with Mr. Michael Acosta, Carter's defense attorney outside the courtroom, after today's court hearing .No other media was present in the courtroom or has this letter.

Mr. Acosta said that the defense has made an offer that Carter would plead guilty to PC 141 tampering with evidence and PC 148 delaying the investigation and obstruction of justice. Mr. Acosta said that Carter did "commit homicide, but not malicious homicide, which is what murder is," he said. As to burning Chapman's jacket and tampering with evidence, Mr. Acosta said that they acknowledge Carter did these things; and that "he did leave the County when he ran" but in his client's defense said, "he panicked." Mr. Acosta said his client was acting in self-defense.

Mr. Acosta compared the charging decisions made in this case with another high profile case, that of Judson Stiglich, who is charged with voluntary manslaughter.

"In the Stiglich case, they charged him with voluntary manslaughter claiming it was a crime of passion. In that case, the victim did not even have a firearm. In our case, the victim had a firearm and it was basically a home invasion."

"The new administration did not charge Ben's case, that was Paul's administration," said Mr. Acosta. "We want Ms. Fleming to have an opportunity to review the charges in this case. If they end up losing this trial, it will be very costly for the County."