In a sweetheart arrangement that will likely allow him to play for millions of dollars this season, gunslinging ex-Giant Plaxico Burress won’t see a felony indictment for at least another 13 weeks — thanks to a delay approved by Manhattan prosecutors yesterday.
Under the delay, Sept. 23, his next court date, is the earliest Burress will learn if he’s been indicted after shooting himself in the thigh with an unlicensed gun in a crowded nightclub way back on Nov. 29, 2008.
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By that time, the superstar receiver will likely already be playing for any of the “several” unnamed teams he’s already in talks with, said his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman.
Meanwhile, a grand jury has yet to even be convened — this, in a simple, though publicly dangerous, shooting with multiple witnesses and few facts in dispute.
“It’s my understanding several teams are trying to sign him,” Brafman told reporters after the lanky athlete folded his 6-foot-5 frame into a black Cadillac Escalade and was driven away from Manhattan Criminal Court.
Several reporters shouted out “Jets? Jets?” but Brafman stayed coy. Contract negotiations aside, plea negotiations are currently kaput, he said.
The Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears are all reportedly interested in Burress.
The special treatment for Burress left seasoned lawyers crying “celebrity justice.”
“This doesn’t happen for anybody who is a non-celebrity, I’ll tell you that,” said defense lawyer and former Manhattan prosecutor Ikiesha Al Shabazz.
Under NFL rules, Burress could be indicted for felony gun possession, agree to a trial date, and still play a season — so long as he hasn’t actually pleaded guilty or been convicted.
Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau declined, through a spokeswoman, to explain the delay.
Of the three main candidates to replace the retiring 89-year-old top prosecutor this January, Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder did not return phone calls asking for comment on the delay, former prosecutor Cy Vance declined comment, and Richard Aborn issued a brief statement.
“This is not a complicated case, and it should move quickly so that the public is assured that there are not two standards of justice — one for the wealthy and well-connected and one for everyone else,” Aborn said, calling some jail term “appropriate.”