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.