{"id":1207,"date":"2019-10-02T18:33:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T18:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:54","slug":"a-courthouse-moment-its-filled-with-a-lot-of-stuff-i-aint-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2019\/10\/02\/a-courthouse-moment-its-filled-with-a-lot-of-stuff-i-aint-do\/","title":{"rendered":"A courthouse moment: \u2018It\u2019s filled with a lot of stuff I ain\u2019t do\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frederick McQuaig put his future on the line to shave a little over three years from his time in prison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Courtroom 7C of Durham County Superior Court on Monday, Sept. 9, McQuaig was intent on trimming the state\u2019s offer of 20 years and 11 months of imprisonment. His counteroffer was 17 years and 6 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

He sat in a mostly empty courtroom next to his attorney Johanna Jennings from the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, a North Carolina law firm that represent inmates on death row. Although the judge and attorneys were discussing how long he\u2019d be locked up, he didn\u2019t show any emotion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In August, McQuaig had been arraigned on so many crimes it was hard to remember them all. The prosecutor, Ray Griffis, stumbled as he recited each case\u2019s file number to the judge: robbery with second-degree kidnapping, 19 CRS 228; assault with a deadly weapon, 19 CRS 533<\/span>;<\/span> possession of a stolen motor vehicle, 18 CRS 57904 …<\/span><\/p>\n

And a big one: a pending first-degree murder charge, though it hasn\u2019t been arraigned yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an email on Aug. 20, the state had offered to wrap all of those charges into one global second-degree murder plea. The state would give McQuaig the least prison time allowed for that charge\u2014almost 21 years. The offer was still available.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Judge Michael O\u2019Foghludha talked through the different offers, charges, and sentences, as if he was trying to keep them straight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the state\u2019s offer was rejected, Mr. McQuaig would be going to trial in December on cases which carry the possibility of life imprisonment without parole. And then he would be waiting on a first-degree murder case, which carries the requirement of life without parole if convicted,\u201d the judge said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But McQuaig didn\u2019t take the deal. The prison time difference wasn\u2019t immense\u2014but it was enough to matter to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. McQuaig and I had a long conversation about this,\u201d Jennings said. \u201cMr. McQuaig continues to reject the state\u2019s offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d Judge O\u2019Foghludha said under his breath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking into McQuaig\u2019s eyes, Judge O’Foghludha explained that the state\u2019s plea wasn\u2019t too different from McQuaig\u2019s counteroffer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(He\u2019d have) the opportunity to essentially wrap everything up and begin serving a sentence that’s really only three years different from what would be acceptable to you,\u201d Judge O’Foghludha said. \u201cYou understand that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI understand, I understand,\u201d McQuaig replied. \u201cBut it\u2019s filled with a lot of stuff I ain\u2019t do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlright, alright,\u201d Judge O\u2019Foghludha said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutor Griffis said McQuaig had until Monday, Sept. 16 to accept the state\u2019s offer. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the deadline came and went. Now, he\u2019ll go to trial for first-degree murder. If he\u2019s convicted: A required life sentence without parole.<\/span><\/p>\n

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly gave a date for the murder trial of Frederick McQuaig. The story has been updated to reflect that the date has not been set.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frederick McQuaig put his future on the line to shave a little over three years from his time in prison.\u00a0 In Courtroom 7C of Durham…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20,213],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courthouse-project","tag-a-courthouse-moment","tag-plea-bargain","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nA courthouse moment: \u2018It\u2019s filled with a lot of stuff I ain\u2019t do\u2019 - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2019\/10\/02\/a-courthouse-moment-its-filled-with-a-lot-of-stuff-i-aint-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A courthouse moment: \u2018It\u2019s filled with a lot of stuff I ain\u2019t do\u2019 - 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