War Machine Now Looking to Make a Plea Deal to Avoid Life in Prison [UPDATED]
(War Machine in his natural habitat. / Photo via Michael Quine, Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Despite War Machine‘s insistence that he was defending himself against an ambush and Christy Mack and Corey Thomas “got what they deserved,” the UFC/Bellator veteran is now hoping to make a plea deal to avoid being buried by the 30+ charges he faces stemming from the alleged savage beating of his girlfriend in August and previous incidents of domestic violence.
War Machine (aka Jon Koppenhaver) was set to appear at a preliminary hearing this Friday, but the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Koppenhaver’s lawyer Brandon Sua asked Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson for time to present prosecutors with “a plea deal to resolve the case…without further litigation and pretrial proceedings.” Tobiasson agreed, and gave Koppenhaver’s lawyers another month to investigate the charges against him. The prosecution is playing along, for now:
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth said [Christy] Mack and [Corey] Thomas were ready to testify at a preliminary hearing slated for Friday.
But, she added, “the state is always willing to take into consideration any information the defense would like to present”…
Bluth was also quick to say that defense lawyers should not delay the case in an attempt to “ice the victim” or wait for memory of the attack and wounds to subside.
“It is not going to work,” Bluth said. “The victim is always going to be cooperative with us. Both victims in this case want to get this process going”…
Koppenhaver faces life in prison without parole on 32 counts, including attempted murder, sexual assault, battery, coercion, preventing or dissuading a witness or victim from reporting a crime, and first-degree kidnapping resulting in substantial bodily harm.
It’s disappointing, in a way; I would have loved to see War Machine maintain his innocence in court while his lawyer tries to explain what a good guy he is without breaking into laughter. Instead, Koppenhaver will likely admit to some charges so that he can avoid a life of incarceration.
UPDATE: According to a TMZ report, War Machine is currently on suicide watch after trying to hang himself in his cell on Tuesday night:
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Tuesday night around 9:30 an officer was walking by War Machine’s cell in Clark County Jail. The officer saw him sitting on the ground with his feet up on the bunk bed. When the officer called to him he was unresponsive.
The officer went into the cell and found the ex-MMA fighter had a piece of linen around his neck which was tied to the leg of the bed — and his face was purple. The officer cut the linen, removed it … and we’re told War Machine’s breathing became less strained and he attempted to speak.
He’s currently in a medical isolation cell on suicide watch. We’re told officers found what appeared to be a suicide note in the cell.
