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Police find patsy to blame starbucks murder on Subjects: Criminal pleas, Murders & murder attempts Locations: Washington DC People: Cooper, Carl Derek Havord Document types: News Section: A SECTION ISSN/ISBN: 01908286 Text Word Count 966 Document URL: Starbucks Guilty Plea Expected; Cooper Would Get Life for Slayings; [FINAL Edition] Bill Miller. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Apr 25, 2000. pg. A.01 Full Text (966 words) Copyright The Washington Post Company Apr 25, 2000 Carl Derek Cooper has reached an agreement to plead guilty today to charges stemming from a triple killing at a Starbucks coffee shop, a deal in which he would wind up with a life prison sentence but not face the risk of execution, sources said yesterday. The deal calls for Cooper to plead guilty to all 48 charges contained in a federal indictment, covering not only the 1997 Starbucks killings but numerous other violent crimes, including the 1993 slaying of a security guard in Northwest Washington. Under terms of the agreement, Cooper would be sentenced to a life term with no chance of parole, to be served at one of two maximum-security federal prisons in Pennsylvania. "This is moving toward a resolution," said one source familiar with the case. Cooper, 30, is due to appear in U.S. District Court this morning for a hearing that could bring an end to the case. The victims' families have been told of the potential developments and likely will be in court. If Cooper accepts the proposed plea, he could be sentenced as early as today. If not, jury interviews will begin tomorrow. Prosecutors and defense lawyers declined to comment on the negotiations yesterday, concerned that the deal could unravel at the last moment. Although one source said Cooper had signed a plea agreement, Cooper could back out at the last minute. If the hearing goes forward, the judge will question Cooper extensively about his willingness to plead guilty and make sure that he understands the implications of the action. At any point in such a proceeding, the defendant has the right to turn down the plea. Sources said the plea discussions intensified in the last week, as attorneys made final preparations for a trial scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Momentum picked up after Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth L. Wainstein and Mary Incontro, who are handling the government's case, provided defense attorneys Steven R. Kiersh and Francis D. Carter with a list of witnesses. After meeting with Cooper, the attorneys informed Senior U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green on Thursday that an agreement was possible. Green had intended to bring in 320 prospective jurors today to begin the selection process. But she decided to hold off for a day to see what Cooper does. Cooper's trial was projected to last up to three months, with prosecutors relying on his own statements and the cooperation of several alleged accomplices to tie him to a series of crimes dating to 1993. Seventeen of the 48 charges dealt with the Starbucks slayings, which took place July 6, 1997, in the 1800 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW. Cooper allegedly acted alone in killing the coffee shop's manager, Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 25, and employees Emory Allen Evans, 25, and Aaron David Goodrich, 18, in a robbery gone awry. The killings took place in one of the most tranquil parts of Washington. Attorney General Janet Reno decided in February to seek Cooper's execution by injection, setting the stage for the first death penalty trial in the District in nearly 30 years. The last execution in the District took place in 1957. Although Reno's decision met requirements under federal death penalty laws, it unleashed much criticism in the District, which has no local laws providing for capital punishment. Reno overruled the recommendation of U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis that prosecutors seek a life sentence with no chance of parole. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and other community leaders criticized Reno's decision, noting that D.C. voters overwhelmingly rejected the death penalty in a 1992 referendum. The Justice Department's protocol gives Lewis the final say on whether to accept a plea bargain that would avoid a death sentence. But a law enforcement source said top Justice Department officials were consulted before the proposed deal was struck. Reno has authorized the U.S. attorney's office to seek the death penalty in two other cases in the District. Both times, the defendants ultimately pleaded guilty and got sentences of life in prison with no chance of parole. One case involved Wayne Anthony Perry, described by prosecutors as the leader of a drug gang that carried out nine killings from 1989 through 1991. The other involved Donzell Michael McCauley, who pleaded guilty to killing D.C. police officer Jason E. White in 1993. The indictment against Cooper accused him of leading a small robbery ring that typically targeted establishments that carried lots of cash, such as a pizza shop in Takoma Park, a bank in Bethesda and a massage parlor near Harrisburg, Pa. Cooper allegedly killed the security guard, 39-year-old Sandy Griffin, as he sat at his desk in the lobby of an apartment building in the 1100 block of 11th Street NW in May 1993. Cooper also allegedly wounded Bruce Howard, an off-duty Prince George's County police officer, during a robbery in a Hyattsville park in August 1996. The Starbucks case confounded D.C. police and the FBI for months after the bodies were discovered. They chased numerous false leads before a tipster directed them to Cooper, but they had no physical evidence to link him to the case. They put Cooper under surveillance, tapping his telephone and monitoring him via a camera mounted on a utility pole outside his home on Gallatin Street NE. Along the way, they developed information about the other crimes. Authorities arrested Cooper on March 1, 1999, one day after he allegedly was overheard talking about killing James Trainum, one of the lead police investigators on his case. Initially charged with the shooting of Howard, Cooper was questioned for four days by the FBI and Prince George's police and eventually took responsibility for the killings at Starbucks. His defense attorneys sought to bar prosecutors from using Cooper's statements at trial, but Green ruled they could be introduced as evidence. © 2002, 2005 The Washington Post Company

Key clinton witness slain { January 23 2000 } Monica lawyer represents murder suspect { February 16 2000 } Police find patsy to blame starbucks murder on Suspect denies killing { March 18 1999 } Files Listed: 4

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