Well, Kimberly Hall stands now on the
brink of quite the most remarkable
turnaround in her fortunes. Just over a
year ago, she was arrested at Chicago's
O'Hare International Airport carrying 43
kg of cocaine in two holiday suitcases
on route to Britain from Mexico. Now,
she was told initially that this was a
class X felony in the United States and
that the prison term could be up to 60
years. In the years since, she spent a
considerable amount of time at one of
America's largest and most infamous
prisons, County Cook Jail, just down the
way from me, awaiting an outcome to her
court proceedings. There have been
numerous hearings over the last months
or so. most of those motions for
continuence, in other words,
adjournments. But today, finally,
significant developments. A plea bargain
hearing where afterwards her defense
attorney confirmed to me that the
prosecution have offered to give
Kimberly Hall a fraction of the sentence
that she might normally have been
expected to receive. We understand that
that final sentence could leave her
coming home in as little as a year and
two at the most. Her attorney confirmed
to us that in essence the prosecution
have accepted Kim Hall's various
defenses. Those were that she did this
under juress. She told ITV News in an
interview last year while she was on
bail that she'd had a gun put to her
head by men she'd met on holiday who'd
conned her and then forced her into
carrying the drug. She also said at one
point she thought that the drugs were
actually cash rather than contraband
substances. Her defense lawyer also
argued that she'd been diagnosed with
bipolar in the months after her arrest
and that that was a clear sign that her
decision-making would have been
effective at that time. And the
prosecution, we gather, also accepted
that she was not a woman with a long
criminal record and a history of
connections to organized crime in any
way, shape, or form. Her attorney told
us understandably that Kimberly Hall is
delighted with the news and eager for
the proceedings to finish. The
sentencing is due to be completed on
September the 8th. Meanwhile, thousands
of miles back home, Kimberly Hall's
father, John Hall, whose long campaign
for his her saying that she was naive
but no criminal, welcome the news. He
told me that at one stage he feared he
might never see her again in person
while she was alive. While he was alive,
that he'd spend all that time with her
incarcerated. Now he can look forward at
last to a future where she'll be
welcomed home within less than two
years.