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Tue. Aug 14, 2007

Vick's Lucky Number Is No Longer Seven

There’s some major ongoing developments in the Michael Vick case. And you might say the AJC buries the lead, nine paragraphs deep, wrapped in understatement: “This week, Vick learned that in the criminal justice system, friendship only goes so far.”

Because his “buds” are about to turn him out as a liar, and worse:

Michael Vick’s attorneys are engaged in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors and the Falcons quarterback could reach an agreement before new dogfighting charges are handed down next week, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

The negotiations follow news that two more of Vick’s three co-defendants are scheduled to enter guilty pleas later this week as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Vick’s motivation to enter a guilty plea is likely fueled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement last month that it will seek a new “superseding” indictment against Vick by the end of August. With the cooperation of Vick’s three co-defendants, there will likely be new, and more specific, allegations against Vick. The federal grand jury in Richmond is expected to hand up that indictment sometime early next week.

If Vick can reach an agreement by the end of this week, he would not have to answer to any additional charges.

AJC: Vick attorneys negotiating plea

Basically the prosecutors have said there’s a deal on the table, with a “sell by” date of Friday. After that, we’ll see you in court. And expect more charges in the aforementioned superseding indictment.

And someone had to explain to Michael, “dude, it’s all over but the sentencing. You’re all alone now. Those life-long buds you stuck with for years to ‘keep it real’ have turned on you like, well, cornered dogs.” One co-defendant making a deal to testify is bad enough. Three is more than three times as bad.

Because it’s possible to throw up a smoke screen and say “that one witness is not believable, he’s just one guy trying to save his skin and scapegoat everyone else.” But here, the number isn’t “one.” It isn’t even “three.” It’s “seven.” Because you also have to add the four cooperating witnesses mentioned in the original indictment.

Seven people are ready to tell the court how completely Michael Vick was involved in this. Seven people are ready to testify that the following statement was a lie:

“I’m never there. I’m never at the house, “ Vick said in April. “I left the house with my family members and my cousin. They just haven’t been doing the right thing. The issue will get resolved.”

AJC: Vick hearing sparks courthouse circus scene

And it appears that resolution is rapidly approaching, sad though it may be. Number Seven will never be retired as a Falcons jersey. Not in the traditional manner, joining names like Bartkowski, Nobis, Van Note, and Tuggle, whose jerseys now hang in the rafters of the Georgia Dome. It will be retired and exchanged for an orange uniform, with a sequence of numbers on it.

Because you can talk about the presumption of innocence all you want. But there’s fresh writing on the wall: Number Seven is going down. He could even voluntarily take the sack, so maybe it won’t hurt quite as long. But it’s gonna hurt.