One of three defendants agrees to take plea deal Michael Gertson, took a plea bargain on Monday at the Coos County Courthouse. Gertson plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter charges relating to the death of Jesse Hayes. August 13, 2013 8:24 am(0) Comments COQUILLE — The resolution of Michael Gertson’s murder charges came early then expected, agreeing to a plea bargain more than six months before his trial was set to start. Gertson, 32, agreed Monday to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter for the killing of Jesse Hayes in February. Gertson was expected to stand trial starting Feb. 6 but chose instead to take a plea that stipulated he’ll most likely serve a 10-year prison sentence. “Quite frankly,” District Attorney Paul Frasier said. “When he said ‘I’ll do it,’ we got him into court before he could change his mind.” Along with Gertson, George Ivanoff and Jesse Longhenry are also charged with murder for Hayes’ death. While it was not a direct bargaining chip during the plea bargain, Gertson cannot plead the fifth and may be used as a witness against the two other suspects. At this point, Frasier isn’t to sure how he’ll be able to use Gertson’s testimony, if at all. “I don’t know what he’s going to say,” Frasier said. “Sometimes it makes people more resolute.” Gertson is set to be sentenced on Aug. 26. Frasier knows his work on the death of Hayes is not over and can’t be positive that Gertson will be the game-changing witness that he could be. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” Frasier said. “I got two more people I got to worry about.” Source: The World #CoosCommNews
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:47:37 +0000
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