Mark Gooch-Arrested for the murder of Sasha Krause

[Jeff Altweg]

It's hard to fathom this degree of hate for someone he didn't even know ,and sticking to his story all the way down.....and I mean down....Often,someone will do a plea deal to avoid a long graphic trial , and then get a somewhat more lenient sentence .....He chose not to do that , and now there is consequences, a longer sentence and all that entails ..

[mike]

It's hard to fathom this degree of hate for someone he didn't even know ,and sticking to his story all the way down.....and I mean down....Often,someone will do a plea deal to avoid a long graphic trial , and then get a somewhat more lenient sentence .....He chose not to do that , and now there is consequences, a longer sentence and all that entails ..

Yes to all of the above. The public obviously doesn't know nearly everything, but with what we do know about the case, it's hard to understand why this went to trial. It was a very strong case against the defendant.

My wife and I talked about how low-key a lot of the trial was. The attorneys on both sides seemed soft-spoken. The prosecution was thorough and methodical but not showboating or aggressive. The defense seemed weak. In retrospect the evidence itself was so damning that there wasn't a lot to say about it. The jury deliberated less than a day. It obviously wasn't even a close thing.

[Ernie]

Some people who follow trials thought the prosecutor was the worst. Others thought he was doing ok. He definitely could have made some points much stronger but in the end it wasn't necessary.

[Neto]

Some people who follow trials thought the prosecutor was the worst. Others thought he was doing ok. He definitely could have made some points much stronger but in the end it wasn't necessary.

I have never seen a real trial before, but I would just say that the prosecutor was "decent". There's probably a reason why trial lawyers aren't generally described with that adjective.

[Jeff Altweg]

The most important parts of a trial like that is perhaps the closing arguments, The prosucuter must be very very careful not to leave grounds for an appeal,that's maybe why he seemed so laid-back, also, the defense was just doing his job, turning every stone ,so to speak.....or otherwise the Killer will claim he was not represented well.......Also I would like to point out that the ultimate decision to go ahead, and not plead out, ,was Gooch's call, it could very well be that his defence felt and even advised him otherwise ,

[mike]

March Gooch was to be sentenced sometime in late November, and I've wondered why it hasn't happened yet. I heard this evening that he was beaten almost to death in prison by fellow inmates, and that he also may have had some kind of change of heart since this. This is third or fourth-hand information, so take it for what that's worth, but the apparent assault could be why his sentencing did not happen as scheduled.

[ken_sylvania]

The Judge entered an order on November 10th postponing sentencing - there is to be a status conference on December 28th at which a sentencing date is to be discussed.

[Szdfan]

The court system often moves agonizingly slow,

[Ken]

Sentencing can be a complicated affair, almost a mini trial with witnesses, testimony, evidence presented, etc. etc. So they can be long affairs. All of these courts are no doubt super over-scheduled with trials and backlogs. And the attorneys for both sides need time to prep, prepare evidence, etc. If they miss one date for whatever reason, the next open date might not be for weeks later.

So this sort of thing is not unusual at all. Whatever sentence he gets will no doubt be long, and whatever time he is spending behind bars right now will count towards that sentence anyway. But I get that families and others involved probably want closure.

[RZehr]

Looks like sentencing is scheduled for January 19.
https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/9039918002