Senator Larry Craig Granted Hearing to Withdraw Guilty Plea

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The Hennepin County District Court has granted Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) his request for a hearing to withdraw his guilty plea for disorderly conduct, after being arrested in June at a Minneapolis airport bathroom stall by an undercover police officer.

According to reports, Craig was arrested when he sat in an adjacent stall to an undercover officer, tapped his foot into the next stall and waved his hand underneath the stall door.

Craig claims that when the officer said he wouldn’t publicize the incident if he pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct, Craig agreed.

Just what the original charge would have been is not clear, though press reports indicate the arrest was related to a sex sting, and the undercover officer claims that a solicitation for sex occurred, though the transcripts do not show that any such offer was made verbally.

In any case, the case was indeed released to the media, the Senator was publicly chastised by his fellow Republican senatorial colleagues, and pressured to step down from his office. Craig announced his plan to step down effective September 30th.

Now, he has reconsidered, and wants to change his plea to not guilty. Craig says that if he can clear his name, he will reconsider his plan to resign.

According to Craig’s attorney, Billy Martin, the senator entered his guilty plea under intense media scrutiny and feared for his career. "[Craig] was not thinking clearly, and he waived his constitutional rights, and we’re asking that to be reversed," said Martin to reporters.

Martin claims that if a defendant enters a plea that is not "knowing and intelligent" it violates that person’s constitutional rights. Martin told the press, "We think the law is on the senator’s side, and we hope that the ruling will be reversed."

The prosecutor in the case disagrees. Patrick Hogan, a representative of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (though not the prosecutor himself), says that as far as they are concerned, the case is closed. "We do feel we have a strong case," said Hogan to reporters. "And he’s already made his plea, and it’s been accepted by the court. From our standpoint, this is already a done deal. Mr. Craig was arrested and signed a guilty plea."

Craig’s fellow Republican senator, Arlen Specter (R-PA), attempted to offer support to Craig, by stating, "I think he’s entitled to his day in court…" Specter added that a plea may be withdrawn if not intelligently made, "And what Senator Craig did was by no means intelligent."

There’s a concept for you. Lack of intelligent decision-making? In the Senate?