I wonder if that was referencing the state's willingness to sit down and talk with each of them prior to Jake's confession or prior to Angela's? Jake was first and I recall AC saying they then made it known that they were willing to talk to any of the other 3 that came forward because that would either corroborate Jake's story or they would learn something else and possibly contradict some of Jake's story. Then it was Angela that came forward 5 months or so later and her story did corroborate Jake's. I wonder if both actually are true then? All were offered the chance to talk, but once Jake and Angela both did talk, the deals were off because George and Billy didn't take the chance when it was offered to them?
I think we all wonder what would have happened if George had asked for a plea deal after Jake and Angela already negotiated their's.
I am sure I heard Canepa say that, before Jake did his plea, that all 4 were given the same opportunity as Jake to come forward and do a plea deal. In other words any of them could have been the first to come forward and plead guilty and get the DP taken off the table for all 4 of them.
Had George or Billy come forward first I believe they would have gotten the same deal as Jake or even possibly a chance to get out after serving a very long sentence like Angie.
I think the State needed at least one co-defendant's testimony to be sure George was placed at the crime scenes, maybe Billy too, so it is possible that had George or Billy been the first to do a plea deal - without any co-defendants at that time testifying against them - that maybe just maybe - they could have gotten life with the possibility of parole or 30 years or whatever.
Just don't know. But anyway, once the State locked down 2 co-defendant's testimony against Billy and George, in my opinion, George and Billy lost any leverage they might have had. They really didn't have enough to offer to get less than LWOP.
I think Angie skated by with 30 years because she wasn't at the crime scenes and Jake corroborated this. But both Jake and Angie place George and Billy at the crime scenes.
Anyway, the point is, we are down to Billy and I just don't see the prosecution giving Billy any type of lesser sentence deal when both Angela and Jake plus evidence place him shooting at the crime scenes.
So why should Billy do a plea deal if the prosecution won't give him less than LWOP? The only reason for him to plead out is if he could get a better deal than LWOP. With a trial he has a super tiny chance of maybe not ending up like George but I don't see how.
I also think his family might want him to plead innocent. That way they can say "my brother" "my son" "my uncle", whatever, was framed by Jake and Angela.
Just speculating about the pleas and what Billy might do. Someone posted that Jake saved George's life. But maybe Jake's testimony, along with Angela's, actually helped get him convicted? Without their testimony I wonder if the outcome would have been different?
Maybe their testimony is what is going to be giving George what we know is coming, a LWOP sentence.
I would love to hear what some of the jurors think about this. How much weight they gave to Jake and Angela's testimony?
There will be prison inmates who see Jake and Angela as snitches who turned on their family. How that will affect them in prison, who knows?