President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden has been charged with 9 counts of income tax evasion. In the court house today, he admitted guilt to all charges via Alford Plea.
An Alford Plea is “I am innocent but there is enough evidence with the prosecution to convict me and therefore I plead guilty to all charges”.
(Here is another simple example: Husband comes home and the wife looks at the car. There was perfume smell inside the car. She also sees a panty lying on the front passenger seat. There is a lipstick mark on the husband’s cheek. The wife asks was there a woman with you in the car. The husband says I am innocent and there was no one with me in the car. But there is enough evidence here to tell there was a woman in the car. Therefore, I admit guilt.)
The prosecutors did not agree for this Alford Plea by Hunter Biden. But the judge said he will admit guilty plea if he replies to all 9 charges individually. The judge then read each charge and Hunter Biden replied “yes, guilty as charged” 9 times.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 16. He could get a maximum of 17 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.
But will he go to prison? My bet is he will not. Let us see the following 3 scenarios.
President Biden pardon’s him. (A President can pardon anybody for any crime.). While Biden was running for office, he said he will not pardon his son. But he is not running for office now. He can now say “heck with it. I am pardoning my son”.
If Kamala Harris wins. She never said she will not pardon him. She can pardon him because Hunter Biden is her boss’s son.
If Trump wins. An outgoing President (Joe Biden) can make a personal request to the incoming President (Trump). Trump will say “don’t worry Joe. I will take care of it”. Trump could say I pardoned Hunter Biden to maintain peace between the 2 parties and in the country.
At high level politics, everybody is friends with everybody on a personal basis. Only the innocent public will think they hate each other.
Hunter may not be hunted. All three scenarios predict a favourable outcome. Let us wait and see what the court does.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Mr. KP. On December 16, the court will give him a light sentence and a fine. That will be negated by either President Biden or President Harris or President Trump.
DeleteI liked your example of Alford Plea.
ReplyDeleteI have head that sometimes pleading guilty might get you a lesser sentence. I don't know how that works.
You last para is a supreme truth which diehard fans of any political party should realise!
Thanks for your comments Pradeep. You are correct. Only low level fans/workers fight whereas the leaders are friends.
DeleteIs the alford plea same as pleading guilty directly?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rajesh. I am not a legal expert. Alford plea is not like a direct guilty plea. I am told if you plead guilty thru Alford plea, there will be some advantage when you appeal to high courts.
DeleteReminds me of a recent statement by Kangana Ranaut in India on a podcast. She mentioned that politicians shout in the parliament so much that the innocent audience will think they are bitter enemies but outside in the canteen they are all chilling together behind the cameras. She also gets party invitations from opposition members. It's all a show for power.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Aish. I don't know much about Indian politics. But what you said is 100% true in all the democratic countries.
DeleteYou have explained what is Alford plea with an example so simply even a lay man can understand. Your prediction, based on three angles, is superb. Bravo 👏👏
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Gowri. There is a 4th solution I forgot to mention in the blog post. The judge may not give any jail sentence because he is the son of the President,
DeleteYes, true S.G. Politicians play all sorts of games for their end.
ReplyDelete