You trial lawyers.... what's the most likely date before a trial when a plea deal...

When the jury is in the hallway.

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Is it a last minute thing usually?

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Not always. Three assistant coaches made a deal back in January and Person made his deal a few weeks ago. Their trial was set for June.

It can happen at any time.

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Is this a jury trial? If so I guess we’d have to find out when the jury selection day is, seems like the deadline?

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Jury selection is the first stage of trial. It starts on the date the trial is set, possibly the day after if the court otherwise had a lengthy docket.

And the only deadline is the jury coming back into court and announcing their verdict. An agreement can be reached at any point before then.

A plea agreement could come at any time (even in the middle of trial). That said, I suspect the prosecutors have long offered Dawkins a plea deal. It's much more expeditious to have defendants plead than have to engage in a trial.

Like anything else, the closer you get to a deadline (i.e. trial date) the more pressure there is on deciding whether to plead or roll the dice at trial. And let no one fool you, no matter how strong either side thinks their case is, a jury trial is always a gamble for both sides. However, there also comes a point where the DOJ make take the plea deal off the table. You try to get an early plea so the prosecutor doesn't have to expend time and efforts preparing for trial. One he's done that, however, he may just decide to tee it up and let the jury decide as all the trial prep has been done.

In short, the most likely date for a plea deal is the deadline when the offer will be off the table. None of us know when that is.

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Another question for the attorneys. Will Wade be deposed before the trial by either side? Also, when is this likely to happen? Is it possible he was already deposed before the most recent transcript leaks? What is the possibility any of the information gets out with or without a settlement ?

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depositions aren't very common in criminal proceedings. Deposition testimony is still hearsay. In a civil context, it's mainly used as another discovery method, which isn't typically the purpose of a deposition in a criminal case. I believe depositions in criminal cases aren't even permitted in every jurisdiction, not sure on the federal rules for criminal depos.

But I haven't done criminal work in a long time and never at the federal level.

Thanks.

Dude, depositions are not hearsay, they are sworn testimony just like it was given in the courtroom.

Now, parts of a deposition may be hearsay, I.e. Jim Doe testifies that John Doe said he saw money changing hands. But a deposition in and of itself is not an out of court statement, which is the first element of hearsay.

You are correct in that depositions are not common in criminal settings, especially since US District Courts have nationwide subpoena power in criminal cases.

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Dude, depositions are not hearsay, they are sworn testimony just like it was given in the courtroom.

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incorrect. Any out of court statement being offered for the truth of the matter asserted is, by definition, hearsay, outside defined excpetions. As far as depos, you can use inconsistent statements at depos for impeachment purposes or rebuttal but you cannot simply just file a depo transcript and leave it at that under most circumstances. The only circumstances in which depos can be used as actual testimony are 1) the witness is dead; 2) the witness lives too far away for his appearance at trial to be reasonable; 3) the witness would be unavailable due to age, health, or imprisonment; 4) the party being deposed refused to appear upon an issued subpoena; 5) for other exceptional purposes.

Yes depositions are sworn testimony, but they are still out of court statements and, by definition, are hearsay unless they fall under very limited exceptions.

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But a deposition in and of itself is not an out of court statement

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actually, by definition it is 100% is an out of court statement outside the aforementioned exceptions.

If depositions were not generally hearsay, no one would ever question witnesses at trial. They'd just question everyone at depos and make closing arguments.

Whenever it starts "getting real" for a defendant. If the depositions and hiring of experts gets costly, it can happen then. If price isn't an issue then at jury selection or opening arguments. Particularly after opening arguments if the defendant was delusional about how strong the case is against them.

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It depends on the situation. Every case I've tried involved the use of deposition in place of live testimony (either unavailable witnesses or outside the subpoena power of the court). It also goes to the purposes of the deposition. Is it strictly a discovery deposition or is it a trial deposition? The more likely scenario is that it is a deposition for all purposes.

If it's a trial deposition or a deposition for all purposes, it is in fact a statement made in court because the parties have agreed that the deposition is taken in place of live testimony.

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I'm assuming your field is civil litigation where you are frequently needing to call out of state witnesses? Those types of depos do fit under the exceptions I listed.

My field is domestic litigation. Most of the cases I handle involve parties and witnesses residing in the same general area, and when I conduct a deposition it is typically 1) because there are local rules that limit the amount of formal discovery I can issue; 2) their written discovery responses, I know, are full of lies so I basically want to cross them on their responses to catch them in a lie or get them to hang themselves at depos so their testimony at trial will either also hang them or kill their credibility (these are my personal favorites and a useful tool for negotiation); or 3) because I want information from a non-party that I can't get through written discovery or a subpoena.

It is very rare that any deposition I would take would fall under an exception to hearsay. The most common hearsay exceptions I face are statements by children under the age of 12 when it deals with abuse or neglect and obviously the business records exception when dealing with medical/school records primarily.

But by and large, there are very few instances when depos in my field are not going to be hearsay.