Gerald Ung trial coming up on 2-7-11

[bill gray]

Case # CP-51-CR-0004808-2010 if you want to read up on the progress so far. Set for 9 AM in "location 304." I think that is at the Crim. Justice Ctr at 13th and Filbert but I am not certain.

Anyone going to observe? I am (far) out of State and would love to read about the case i.e. "Are you allowed to be prepared for and willing to survive a vicious attack in Phila. or are you required to take your lumps? Put another way, "If your are faced by multiple attackers who outweigh you 3 or 4 to one and appear to be fueled by high-test ethanol, may you reasonably fear for your health and life expectancy as well as that of your girl friend and make a preemptive counter attack? (Anyone remember Israel and the Gulf of Acquaba (sp?) circa 1970? Arabs fired a few rounds and the Israelis hit back like a ton of bricks and cut the heart out of their willingness to fight.)

How will the DA describe Ung's "legitimate choices" vs self defense?

[rjmst1]

I'd be surprised if it were to go on the 7th.

[Curmudgeon]

I'd be surprised if it were to go on the 7th.

Why is that?

[rjmst1]

They never go first listing.

[PhillyAR]

It will get continued several times before it goes to trial. That is the nature of criminal cases. It is good for the defense.

[bill gray]

The D could really throw a monkey wrench into the process by NOT asking for a continuance.
An American chess champion (Fisher?) was coming up on a match with a Russian champion who was being coached by many Russian Grand Masters. They were basing everything on Fisher's normal opening move and going from there. Fisher changed his opening move and all the coaching for the Russian went down the tubes. He had secretly trained for months on the new opening. He used surprise to his advantage and flustered the Russians.

Hey, it could happen! (Judy Tenuda)

[rjmst1]

Might be nice, I know, but it doesn't come down to just a simple matter of choice even if they want to go on the 7th. Both sides need to have done enough preparation for this date, two sides who have a ton of other cases (the ADA has multiple cases scheduled for the 7th alone). The D might not even have full discovery yet. It also comes down to availability of witnesses for trial. This means coordinating a wide range of people with divergent schedules: civilian witnesses, police, the victim, and a D who is coming from VA. The availability of the police sometimes makes things difficult. I predict it will get continued several times that will add up to nearly a year from now and that about 10 months from now the kid will plea to at least aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime. But I've been wrong before. Then he's got to deal with a civil trial.

[PhillyAR]

I predict it will get continued several times that will add up to nearly a year from now and that about 10 months from now the kid will plea to at least aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime. But I've been wrong before. Then he's got to deal with a civil trial.

I highly doubt Ung will take any plea agreement. He's got a lot of money invested in law school and if he pleads guilty to a felony he will never be admitted to the bar.

[rjmst1]

I predict it will get continued several times that will add up to nearly a year from now and that about 10 months from now the kid will plea to at least aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime. But I've been wrong before. Then he's got to deal with a civil trial.

I highly doubt Ung will take any plea agreement. He's got a lot of money invested in law school and if he pleads guilty to a felony he will never be admitted to the bar.

Really? Do you know him? Did he tell you spending money pursuant to being granted a degree that might satisfy one requirement on his bar application was his chief concern right now? I know he's from VA, so he never got the reduced in-state Temple tuition, but can you tell us for sure if he paid all of his tuition so far out of his own pocket? Any grants, scholarships, loans? Either way, law school finances take a back seat to attempted murder defense finances and civil suit defense finances or settlement.

All that might not even matter. I'll tell you why: You assume that Temple would even let him back in if he goes to trial and is acquitted. Correct me if I am wrong, but I read that the incident happened after his first year and before he graduated. I also read that he is now in VA. And I know that any ABA-accredited law school would at least suspend you (if not expel you) immediately upon being charged with attempted murder. Mine would have. So, if all that is true, even if he gets an acquittal on all charges (not to mention expungement), he still has to persuade Temple to let him back in if he is suspended and not already expelled (which is completely at their discretion) and persuade them to let him graduate even if he fulfills the academic requirements. This assumes he did not voluntarily withdraw from school and that he did not take a leave of absence (in which case, Temple would probably still not let him back in), so it will be unlikely because law schools are notoriously afraid of people with arrests, particularly if the arrest involved a firearm.

And he cannot transfer to another school because this happened after his first year as I understand it, and you can't transfer law schools once you've begun your second year (except in extremely rare circumstances. e.g. Hurricane Katrina wipes out your law school in your second or third year and another school decides out of charity to take some of that school's students, like my school did, but even then, they only did it for first year students and then sent them back to LA, so I know of absolutely no precedent that would stand for the proposition that this guy can finish out his law education somewhere else). What this all means is that as long as I understand how far along he was in school at the time of the incident, his chances of being a lawyer are already gone.

And he did invest time, but the cost/benefit analysis is his. That's the whole point to a plea agreement. If never being able to sit for the bar exam is your chief concern, really that's a luxury to a young guy facing prison time for attempted murder among several other charges. I'd hate to speculate but some people would gladly haul cable for the rest of their lives or pour cement or start their own business if it meant maybe 90 days in county and a long probation or something less, all for doing something that could have landed them, say, 10 years in state.

I know you want to see the good guy win, but even if nothing that I just said turns out to be the case, I've still seen so many cases like this end in pleas and potential trials where there is a lot of anticipation also end in pleas.

But like I said about my prediction regarding the plea: I've been wrong before and I certainly could be wrong now.

[PhillyVet]

We’ve all seen the video – it was self defense and Gerald Ung is innocent.
He’s being charged with Attempted Murder (1st Degree), Reckless endangerment, aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime & simple assault (you have to love how they stack on the charges). When you’re innocent, you don’t take a plea; to do otherwise would be a miscarriage of justice.
There’s no question that Ung was being pursued and attacked. So this entire case is going to hinge on the prosecution proving that Ung had the ability to escape to “perfect” safety – remember, the law requires you to retreat to “perfect safety” before resorting to deadly force.
This is a text book example of why Pennsylvania must pass the “Stand-your-Ground” statute. If that had been on the books, Philadelphia wouldn’t have been able to sustain a prosecution with such Prima facie evidence of self defense.
Then again, what else would you expect from Philadelphia.