SUSSEX, Va. -- Michael Vick's lead attorney left open the
possibility of a plea agreement after the suspended NFL star was
scheduled for an April 2 jury trial on state dogfighting charges.
The Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleaded guilty to a federal
dogfighting conspiracy charge in August and voluntarily reported to
jail last week, even though he will not be formally sentenced until
Dec. 10.
As he left the courthouse, defense attorney Billy Martin was
asked why Vick is fighting the state charges after pleading guilty
in federal court.
"I can't tell you we're fighting them, I can't tell you we're
taking a plea deal," Martin said. "We're going to look at this
matter and give him some legal advice, and that has not been
decided yet."
Vick was not in a Sussex courtroom Tuesday when Surry County
Circuit Judge Samuel Campbell set Vick's trial date during a
five-minute consultation with defense attorneys Lawrence Woodward
and Martin and prosecutor Gerald Poindexter.
Vick, who's being held at a Warsaw, Va., jail, faces up to five
years in prison for his federal conviction.
The two state charges -- beating or killing or causing dogs to
fight other dogs, and engaging in or promoting dogfighting -- also
are punishable by up to five years in prison each.
Vick's lawyers previously indicated they would fight the state
charges on the grounds he can't be convicted twice of the same
crime. Woodward declined to discuss that strategy before Tuesday's
court proceedings.
Campbell also set trial dates of March 5 for co-defendants
Quanis L. Phillips and Purnell A. Peace and a May 7 trial for Tony
Taylor.
Vick and the three co-defendants pleaded guilty to the federal
charge in U.S. District Court in Richmond. In an Aug. 27 plea
agreement, Vick admitted bankrolling a dogfighting enterprise and
providing gambling money, as well as helping to kill six to eight
dogs.
In another development, Vick agreed to federal prosecutors'
demand that he set aside about $928,000 for the care of pit bulls
seized from the dogfighting operation.
Prosecutors last week filed court papers seeking a freeze on
money, saying they were concerned about Vick's "deteriorating
financial condition." Several creditors are suing Vick for more
than $5 million, and an arbitrator has ruled he should repay the
Falcons nearly $20 million in bonus money.
A consent order entered Tuesday in U.S. District Court in
Richmond says Vick has agreed to place the money in an escrow
account maintained by Martin's law firm. The money must be
deposited by Friday.
The dogfighting operation known as Bad Newz Kennels operated
since 2001 on Vick's 15-acre spread in Surry County. A drug
investigation of a Vick relative led authorities to the property,
where they found more than 50 pit bulls and equipment commonly used
in dogfighting.
Tuesday, 10 protesters from the animal-rights group People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals stood outside the courthouse in
rural southeastern Virginia. They held placards with pictures of
injured dogs and the messages "Report Dogfighters!" and "Dogs
Deserve Justice."
"The message is loud and clear, that all dogfighters must be
punished to the fullest extent of the law, no matter who they
are," PETA protester Melissa Karpel said.