crimes and misdemeanors

Cannibal Cop’s Co-Defendants Will Use His Same Failed Defense

 Former New York City police officer Gilberto Valle (L), dubbed by local media as the Cannibal Cop, listens as his wife Kathleen Mangan testifies in this courtroom sketch on the first day of his trial in New York February 25, 2013. Valle and New Jersey mechanic Michael Van Hise are accused of plotting last year to kidnap, cook and eat a Manhattan woman.
Photo: Jane Rosenburg /Reuters/Corbis

Gilberto Valle’s argument that his plot to kidnap, torture, and kill women was harmless fantasy and not a criminal conspiracy did not work for him. A jury found the so-called cannibal cop guilty of kidnapping conspiracy and illegally accessing a law-enforcement database. But even though it failed once, his two co-defendants figure the same defense will work for them. “The defense in all these cases is the same for a reason,” one defense lawyer told Reuters. “It’s true.” If at first you don’t succeed 

‘Cannibal Cop’ Co-Defendants to Use His Defense