Hedgecock Plea Bargain Up in the Air

Prosecutors and attorneys for Mayor Roger Hedgecock said Thursday that negotiations on an out-of-court settlement of the conspiracy and perjury charges against the mayor had broken down, but other sources said that a plea bargain still could be reached, perhaps as early as today.

Michael Pancer, Hedgecock’s defense attorney, emerged from a long plea bargaining session with Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller and said: “. . . I see no possibility of a plea bargain . . . I believe there will be a second trial and we’re going to get prepared. . . .”

Miller and his top aide, assistant Dist. Atty. Richard D. Huffman, left the meeting with the same message. Huffman said the session with Superior Court Judge Ross G. Tharp was their last before Hedgecock is scheduled to appear at a court hearing Monday. “It implies we’re going to go to trial, unless something changes, and I don’t anticipate that it will,” Huffman said.

Despite those statements, three sources close to the negotiations predicted there could be a settlement. The sources said that there will be pressure to come to an agreement today because Tharp plans to leave town in the afternoon. The sources said any plea bargain also hinges on a settlement of the state Fair Political Practices Commission’s $1.2-million civil suit filed against Hedgecock and several supporters for alleged campaign contribution violations.

Hedgecock’s first trial ended in a mistrial Feb. 13, with the jury deadlocked 11 to 1 for conviction.