Judge: Andrew Campos Could Get "Total Freedom" with a "Speedy Trial"

[mafiastudent]

Judge: Andrew Campos Could Get "Total Freedom" with a "Speedy Trial"

Andrew Campos may not have gotten his bail restrictions loosened like he wanted, but there’s hope on the horizon.

BY LISA BABICK
SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Andrew Campos may not have gotten approval for his nighttime curfew request, but he might not have to worry about his strict bail conditions for much longer.

At today’s hearing on Campos’ Aug. 21 motion to loosen his strict home confinement restrictions to an 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. nighttime curfew, Judge Frederic Block suggested that a speedy trial would be the best way to solve that problem.

The “best remedy for Mr. Campos is to get acquitted as quickly as possible since he’s obviously innocent,” Block said. “So, I think it’s in his best interest to get a speedy trial.”

“You get this thing done and over with and he has total freedom.”

Although Judge Block turned down Campos’ motion saying, “I’m not going to let him out. I mean that would be foolish on my part,” he did make accommodations so that Campos could visit his mother-in-law and grandmother. Pretrial Services (PTS) had previously denied Campos’ request to do so.

Block also made a point to mention that if he did lift Campos’ restrictions that he would then have to do the same for the other defendants in the case as well.

“I mean, how do I treat them differently?” Block pondered.

So, Judge Block suggested that getting the “case tried” would be the best solution for everybody.

During the 15-minute telephone conference, he told both parties to prepare to set a trial date at the status hearing conference scheduled for Oct. 1.

AUSA Kayla Bensing told the Court that the government “can be prepared to go to trial” and would have a schedule ready to present at the Oct. 1 conference.

However, Campos’ attorney Henry E. Mazurek said the defense had several pretrial motions to submit based on the discovery material received from the government and those motions could delay the entire process.

But Judge Block said that whatever pretrial motions the defense had could be submitted to him as soon as possible – even as soon as today.

“Make whatever motions you want to make now,” Block advised. “This is one of the reasons I wanted to speak to everyone today – to move the ball.”

Block believed that Campos could have a jury trial as early as the end of October or November, but no later than January of next year, stating he was “cautiously optimistic” that the court system seemed to be moving towards some sort of normalcy now that the Covid-19 crisis is somewhat under control.

And he reiterated that Campos’ best bet at ridding himself of those severely limiting bail restrictions would be getting his case to trial.

“This case may not be the strongest case I’ve seen in my 26-year-period,” Block said at the end of the conference. “So, I’m going to do everything I can…for Mr. Campos to gain his freedom.”

[CTamg65]

interesting .....thanks for posting

[SonnyBlackstein]

Thanks for the post

[mafiastudent]

Thank you guys. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Pmac2]

Wonder if the judge is egging him to go to trial then Campos loses and block punts him to the moon. He'll probaly get a sweet plea deal next month 2 3 yrs

[mafiastudent]

Wonder if the judge is egging him to go to trial then Campos loses and block punts him to the moon. He'll probably get a sweet plea deal next month 2 3 yrs

It's kind of hard to spin this into a negative when the judge said what the judge said. And I think that's what a lot of people want to do....not attacking here...

But this judge is a straight shooter. There's no shady stuff happening here. All you have to do is look at the rest of the proceedings that happened previously to see that. Plus he's very distinguished - has written several books - and takes his oath as a judge seriously if you look at his record.

I will say that the prosecution tried to move this case to another judge - Judge Cogan I believe - under a sealed motion. He responded that he was staying on this case (I think the motion was submitted ex parte because there was some witness info in there but the defense couldn't see the motion) but assured the defense there was good reason for that govt motion being filed under seal.

So, there are fair and impartial judges. That's why I put together that Fiore pictorial story to show how judges should perform their judicial duty.

Now, I will admit that those first comments by Judge Block, I was thinking this guy has to be joking. You're listening to a telephone hearing so you can't see faces and expressions but there was no mocking tone to his voice, no snickering, no laughter. But if he had been joking in the beginning it was clear at the end that he wasn't joking at all which is why I made sure to indicate that his last comments were done at the end of the conference.

My own opinion on this is that there won't be any plea deal. Why would you take a plea when a judge says this isn't one of the strongest cases he's seen in his entire career? I think there's a possibility that the government could very well dismiss the case against Campos.

You can also read more about Judge Block on his website at http://www.frederickblock.com.

[SonnyBlackstein]

A plea can come into play based on sentencing regardless of the strength of the case. If he’s facing 20-life and they offer 2-3, he’s going to Michael Persico that until the cows come home. So who knows.

[mafiastudent]

A plea can come into play based on sentencing regardless of the strength of the case. If he’s facing 20-life and they offer 2-3, he’s going to Michael Persico that until the cows come home. So who knows.

The sentencing guidelines for his charges is 5-6 years. I just checked on that from all the documents I have for his case.

[SonnyBlackstein]

A plea can come into play based on sentencing regardless of the strength of the case. If he’s facing 20-life and they offer 2-3, he’s going to Michael Persico that until the cows come home. So who knows.

The sentencing guidelines for his charges is 5-6 years. I just checked on that from all the documents I have for his case.

Interesting.
Still wouldn’t rule out a plea. If he’s offered 6 months, who knows. But thanks for the info

[Pmac2]

Agree. They'll drop all the serious charges and have him cop out to whatever the lightest offense just to put a W in the win column like when they had merlino on all types of rico shit then he plead guilty to gambling and got 18months

[mafiastudent]

Agree. They'll drop all the serious charges and have him cop out to whatever the lightest offense just to put a W in the win column like when they had merlino on all types of rico shit then he plead guilty to gambling and got 18months

That's what happened in Campos' 2004 case -- they dismissed everything except for 2 counts and he got 21 months I think.