Father of Rocori victim says McLaughlin rejected plea deal:
It seems that John Jason McLaughlin was offered a plea that would have kept him out of jail…
Tom Rollins, the father of 17-year-old victim Aaron Rollins, first told KNSI-FM in St. Cloud on Friday that some six months ago, prosecutors offered the deal to McLaughlin’s attorney, Dan Eller.
Rollins said both his family and the family of the other victim, Seth Bartell, 14, didn’t oppose the prosecution’s offer.
Under the plea deal, Rollins said, McLaughlin would have plead guilty to all six charges against him, including first-degree murder for shooting Bartell.
In exchange, he would have been sentenced to 30 years, but could have served it at a mental institution until such time that he was declared mentally healthy – after which he would have served out the balance in prison, Rollins said.
I wonder why it was rejected. It seems that McLaughlin or his lawyer took a gamble that didn’t pay off. I have a feeling, though, that this will be used in an appeal argument.
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