Let's see. Spring practice is over. Finals are done. Most of the student body is packed up and gone for the summer. Nobody around State College to read the newspaper. Yep. Seems like a good time for Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira to offer Chris Baker a deal.
Penn State defensive lineman Chris Baker, facing felony charges in two separate assault cases, pleaded guilty Friday to three misdemeanor charges in connection with the two cases and was sentenced to serve two years of probation.
The felonies and several other misdemeanors were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
Congratulations to Chris Baker in finally putting this behind him. Hopefully now he can keep his nose clean and be a contributing member of the football team.
As for DA Madeira, like I said, nice timing.
Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira said he was “thrilled” to have both cases resolved with the blessing of all victims. Madeira said he spoke Friday with each victim in the Meridian II melee, and they approved the deal. He’d previously gotten the approval of Varney Capehart, of Philadelphia, who was assaulted in the HUB incident.
The apartment incident happened back in April of 2007. The trial was delayed, what, like three times? Now he picks the time of year when State College is a ghost town to finally speak to the "victim" to ask him if it's ok to offer a deal. How convenient. Make no mistake: though Madeira says he's "thrilled" with the outcome, this is the equivalent of him tucking his rat tail between his legs and surrendering. There was no way he was going to win this case, and if it had gone to trial the defense was going to rip him to shreds just like Mike Nifong.