Sen. Larry Craig Files Papers to Withdraw His Guilty Plea

Idaho lawmaker Larry Craig, who was recently nabbed in a sex sting at a Minneapolis airport bathroom and subsequently pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge relating to the incident, has filed court papers to withdraw his plea.

According to police reports, Craig, a Republican U.S. Senator, solicited sex from an under cover officer in a Minneapolis airport bathroom stall. Craig admits to moving his foot and reaching his hand down, signs that the undercover officer believed were intended to solicit gay sex. Craig has said that he regrets his guilty plea because he made the decision hastily and did not consult with an attorney. He blames his mistake on stress caused by media inquiries regarding his sexuality and says he made the plea to put the matter behind him.

The documents, filed in Hennepin County District Court had a couple of interesting quotes:

"While in this state of intense anxiety, Senator Craig felt compelled to grasp the lifeline offered to him by the police officer; namely, that if he were to submit to an interview and plead guilty, then none of the officer's allegations would be made public."

"Thus, rather than seek legal advice from an attorney to assist him in publicly fighting these charges and potentially protract the issue, Senator Craig's panic drove him to accept a guilty plea, the terms of which offered him what he thought was a private, expeditious resolution of this matter."

Filing the papers is not the biggest hurdle Senator Craig has to get over. In order for the guilty plea to be withdrawn, a judge has to be convinced that there are extraneous circumstances that led to the plea, a task that will not be easy. Will the excuse of "stress caused from the media" be enough to convince the judge? Or will it require some fancy wordplay from a gifted attorney? Only time will tell.