What I am learning about the legal system is that when things happen, they happen fast. On Thursday I was doing the usual things when I got a phone call from the DA saying there was a new development: Ruben Archunde, the man who shot Tim, had agreed to plead guilty to the 4 charges against him (1st degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and aggravated assault). The most amazing thing about the offer was that they did not ask for any changes to the possible outcomes, in other words, the death penalty would stay on the table. Rick, the DA, told me there would be a hearing on Friday morning at 9 am to present this to the judge. I know I surprised Rick when I told him I would be at the hearing.
I hung up the phone at 1:45 and two hours later I was on the road to Tucson. It’s a good thing I have been planning this trip for such a long time because I just went in to ‘automatic’ as I threw clothes into a suitcase and packed up the dog. The drive to Tucson is one that I dread because it is so long and tedious, but this time, I was motivated to get to that hearing so I was the energizer bunny of drivers. I got into town at 8 am just in time to make it to the hearing.
At the hearing, the second thing that I have learned about the legal system became apparent-things change. While Thursday, Archunde was willing to plead guilty to all charges, by Friday at 9 am he had changed his mind. So why is this such a big disappointment? Because by agreeing to plead guilty to all the charges Archunde would give up any rights to appeal the verdict in the future, and he would waive his right to a jury trial leaving the judge alone to determine his sentence. Damn! We leave the courthouse with another hearing scheduled for Monday morning and the hope that the defense attorneys would be successful in getting Archunde to agree to plead guilty – again. And Rick, the DAN, asks for my cell phone number in case anything changed.
We left the courthouse around 10:00. Remember what I said about change? Well, around 11 Rick called. Archunde would plead guilty to all charges and the judge had a hearing scheduled at noon, could I get back to the courthouse by then? Mind you, it’s still Friday, I have been up since 7 am on Thursday morning, and a nap was sounding so good. But my purpose in being here is to attend the hearings, so back to the courthouse I go.
In a hearing that lasted about 30 minutes, Archunde pled guilty to all the charges, waived his right to a jury trial and his right to appeal the verdict. The judge spend a lot of time reminding him of his rights and what he was giving up by making the plea. I have to tell you that as I sat there and watched Archunde say he was guilty of murdering my son, I felt absolutely numb. Tomorrow I’ll let you know about the rest of the hearing and what will be happening in the next couple of weeks.