Colt Gray plea deal: What to expect at sentencing

An accused Apalachee High School shooter Colton Gray will be back in court tomorrow, and according to court documents, he'll be appearing for a non-negotiated plea and sentencing hearing, which stay with me because we're going to get into what this means here in just a moment. But Gray previously pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, but this upcoming hearing is for a potential change of plea. So that's really the key there. He's facing 55 charges, including four counts of malice and felony murder. So his father, Colin, was found guilty in March on charges including second degree murder. Colin will be sentenced this summer. So essentially here tomorrow could mark a major turning point in the criminal case against the accused Apalachee High School shooter. And to help us understand more of what's happening at this point, legal analyst Joshua Shipper is joining us with what we can expect tomorrow and moving forward. So Joshua, good morning to you and thanks for joining us. Good morning. It's an honor to be here. All right, let's get into it. So it looks like Colt Gray is is expected to change his plea since he's still a teenager who ultimately makes that decision. Well, the actual change in plea is the defendant's own choice. Even though he's 14, obviously this is going to affect him for the rest of his life. This case doesn't disappear or lose attachment to him ever is going to be the defining issue for his entire existence. And his entire existence is really the big question that the court is going to be dealing with tomorrow. Changing the plea was required by the judge. If Mr. Gray wanted to plead guilty, he was required by the court to enter that guilty plea prior to the preparation of the trial itself, which was coming up relatively soon. So Mr. Gray indicated through his lawyers that he wanted to change his plea and proceed with this non-negotiated process where he is going to plead guilty and then the non-negotiated portion will be related to the sentencing involved on those 55 charges. Please remember that these are the most serious charges anybody faces in our criminal justice system, with many of them requiring a life sentence. Since that's obviously the big issue on the table, I expect to see extensive discussion about mitigation issues and what the future of teen sentences, including life without parole looks like here in the state of Georgia. So we're hearing that this could be a non-negotiated plea. So Joshua, walk us through, you know, what that means and how that's different than a traditional plea deal. So the two general ways of disposing a case through a plea in court are a negotiated plea or a non-negotiated plea. A negotiated plea is when the state and defense have sat down, hashed out all of the issues and come to an agreement as to what charges the individual is going to plead on, which charges are going to fall to the side. And most importantly, there's an agreement as to what the sentence recommendation that the two parties agreed to can be submitted to the court then for the court's approval. So in many cases, it's an agreement of, all right, it'll be 10 do 5. And that's 10 years of probation or 10 year sentence, 5 years of service. We've got a life sentence on the table here, along with all the other assorted and collateral issues. So the question moves more from how long is the sentence to whether he's ever going to qualify for parole. And life without parole for teenagers has been a hot topic nationally for going on a couple of decades. So if he does end up pleading guilty tomorrow, I mean, what, what then happens next in court? If the plea somehow doesn't take place, if the court rejects the non-negotiation, says no, we need a trial and it's the court's opportunity to do that, the court can reject the plea. What the court's going to do is interpret or hear from the state as to their position regarding sentencing issues. There's also going to be a recitation and acceptance of the facts if the plea is going to go forward. And then a discussion from the defense as to any mitigating issues and requests as to There's a very slight possibility that this won't go through. Pleas can bust in open court, but I don't think that's very likely considering the amount of time and effort all the parties have put into this. And specifically, we know that the court was requiring this plea to happen before trial preparation. So tomorrow is really the big day. So what role, if any, Joshua, do you think that the victim's family may play during the sentencing phase? It's incredibly important. This is going to be part of the process where the victim's families are going to have their moment in front of the court to express how much harm young Colt Gray committed that day when he was 14 years old in the deaths of these students and other individuals. The victim witness process is meaningful and important, not just for the individual victim families, but for the community at large. This is a relatively small community. It's on the suburbs or outer suburbs of Atlanta. And clearly, this was so important. The state and defense moved the case to another neighboring county because everyone was touched by this horrible tragedy, allowing the families of Colt Gray's victims to step forward and have their moment to express how this case affected them is incredibly important. And the judge sincerely wants to hear because he's the one that's going to decide whether parole is going to be appropriate or not. Now, when it comes to teenage sentences and life without parole, Georgia does not have a law like most states or at least 2325 prohibiting life without parole for teenagers. Georgia still allows that discretionary choice by the court, but the court's going to probably exercise its discretion, in my opinion, of sentencing him to life without parole due to the horrible nature of the crimes involved. So Joshua, let's just say that the judge accepts this guilty plea and then sentences him. Does that essentially bring this criminal case to a close or could there still be some appeals that we see happen? In all likelihood, this is the quote unquote end of this, but it's never really the end when you're dealing with a life sentence, especially with someone being sentenced for a crime committed at a young age. Georgia law specifically sets forth that there are possibilities for reinvestigating sentencing issues in the future as the morals and values of the community change. We could have future laws in 10, 20, 30 years that go back and amend the statutes or direct the courts in different ways how youthful offenders should be treated. And if Georgia was to pass those laws, this case would fall under them. So I believe tomorrow we're going to see a very emotional presentation by the victim's families and the state. We're going to see some wonderful mitigation from the defense delving into young Mr. Gray's lifestyle. What happened when he was being raised, how we got to this point where he committed such a violent act. And then I expect the judge to very clearly and specifically sentence him in a written manner because we all know this is going to be appealed. But this basically ends the process for Colt Gray. Okay. So for those who are maybe just joining us on the back half of this, Joshua, you are a legal expert. You are a longtime criminal defense attorney. So for you, what are you going to be watching most closely for as this hearing unfolds? How the judge specifically sets out the sentence with written documents involving the choice for life with parole or life without parole, because those documents, those findings are what future courts are going to rely on if there is ever a request in the future to change some of Colt Gray's sentence conditions. He's a young man and he's going to be in for a long time. But in 20, 30, 40 years, society changes and we have to reflect that. I expect a very, very specific, forthright and straightforward judicial ruling from the court when they do issue the actual sentence, which is not necessarily guaranteed tomorrow. Why? I believe it's likely the court could step back and take additional time and issue the sentence at a future date. All right. There we have it. Lots of good takeaways here from legal analyst Joshua Shipper. Joshua, thank you so much for your expertise on this. Just helping us understand, you know, what's happened and of course, what's to come tomorrow in moving forward. So we appreciate you. Thank you so much and have a great day. You too. All right. So let's talk just a little bit more on a digging deeper into it. Colin Gray, so the father of Colt Gray, the accused Apalachee High School shooter that we're talking about here. He's going to be learning his fate next week. And this comes after a jury found Gray guilty on 27 counts and second degree murder connected to the 2024 shooting. He's 55 years old and he's facing up to 180 years in prison for providing his son with the rifle that police say was used in this in this shooting that left four people dead. So again, he will learn his fate next week and certainly a lot at stake for him.