Recently, my office has received numerous calls from interested citizens after
viewing television coverage from some T.V. stations and newspaper articles
concerning the attempted suicide of Robert Corrigan on September 20, 2006 in an
apparent attempt to avoid having his case adjudicated and probation revoked for
which a motion to do so had been filed by the District Attorney’s office.
Those announcements incorrectly stated that when Corrigan entered his guilty
plea to Failure to Stop and give Assistance under the Parks and Wildlife Code in
the 33rd Judicial District Court in Llano, his sentence resulted from an
arrangement or “plea bargain” between prosecutor and defense attorneys.
It had been made plain from the beginning that this office did not enter into any
plea arrangement with Corrigan’s attorneys. After Corrigan was indicted, my
office refused to enter into any arrangement or “deal” as to recommended
punishment if Corrigan pled guilty. In fact, no “deal” was offered and no response
to requests for a deal from Corrigan’s attorneys was even considered.
Our system in Texas allows a defendant in a criminal case at the time of trial, to
either plead guilty to a jury or waive a jury and plead guilty before a judge in open
court. In either case, no plea bargain is required. In those situations, defendants
“take their chances” with a jury or judge. On October 22, 2004, Robert Corrigan
did just that.