A lawyer for Pvt. Travis King says that they have entered negotiations with prosecutors in the hopes of working out a plea deal for the young soldier who dramatically ran across the border into North Korea last July.
“The negotiation that we’re in is in the best interest of both Pvt. King and the U.S. Army,” Frank Rosenblatt, King’s attorney, told Military.com in a phone interview Monday.
King was set to have an Article 32 hearing — a preliminary hearing similar to a grand jury proceeding for civilians — on eight different charges that included desertion and child pornography on Monday, but the hearing has been delayed two weeks.
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“If these negotiations completely fall apart, then we’ll eventually have an Article 32. But if the negotiations are successful, then it will obviate the need for a preliminary hearing,” Rosenblatt said.
Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel, confirmed that King’s lawyers requested a delay in the proceedings and that Army prosecutors “had no objection.”
Rosenblatt wouldn’t say what a potential deal would look like other than it would be “in the best interest” of King and the service.
In addition to being represented by Rosenblatt, a former Army lawyer who was the lead military defense counsel for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, King’s legal team includes…
