blaming the family. the judge said i don t know where we stand here now. i want to hear from more people. right. called a recess. travis mcmichael has to decide whether he wants to go ahead with the plea or not. we ll know that shortly. okay. a couple questions to you and then danny. pete, i think you answered it in the last sentence. we are paused. the judge will come back. like today? yes. oh yes. oh yes. very much. we ll know if this is moving forward. within a short period of time. what is the explanation for the disconnect in this case and the family and the prosecutor saying we thought the family wanted this? do we know what s behind that disconnect? no. the government said they were
finish what happens tonight so we thank him for that as he considers the reporting. danny, what happens then if in however minutes we don t know when it will happen. travis mcmichael says i ll take my chances and go to trial? is that what would be the next step in this instance? this language is in every plea agreement and every defendant is warned of it. look, there is a small chance that the judge may reject the plea agreement. if the judge does that then you re not bound by the exact agreement and then rejected. so now the defendant can go back and decide maybe i don t want anymore discussions. let s go to trial. if they re interested in a plea maybe they go back to the drawing board. no side is forced to go to trial but might be something that the judge sees as unfair. if for example the
told by the lawyers for the parents that the parents would not oppose this deal. got it. the parents say, no, we never agreed to such deal. got it. whether this was a breakdown in communication involving the lawyers or what it is not clear. danny, how unusual is it that something like this happens? wall to wall coverage on cable news with the state trial happening. a number of unusual things happening here. it is unusual for a judge to reject a plea agreement but it does happen and defendants are warned in advance that it is always a possibility even if it is not likely. victim s families are on board maybe not like this one but give the family or the victim certainty and not a risk to be found not guilty at trial. but it is important to remember
the same boat. julia, the philadelphia enquirer, we hope to have you back. i d love that. thank you. federal trial in the killers of ahmaud arbery, i want to bring in pete williams and danny cevelos. the judge rejected the plea deal. talk me to about what we know. there s a break in the hearing right now. travis mcmichael agreed to plead guilty of federal hate crimes. he agreed in this plea agreement to say that he killed ahmaud arbery because of his race. to say it was a hate crime flatly. the prosecutor said that was an important statement. and that it was that they defended the plea agreement but
arbery s mother about this, could the judge take into consideration? the crime victim right requires it. but more like a pete? i think pete was talking to the producer. danny, you keep doing with the thought. i apologize. i thought pete was telling me i was getting horribly wrong. it requires that the judge hear from the victims and for that reason the judge is likely taking into account the victims opinions on the ultimate plea agreement even though the victim cannot force the prosecutor to do one thing or the other. the prosecutors make their own decisions. the victims and the families are not the clients of the federal prosecutor. what pete was saying is telling the producer to go to