UPDATE: Vappie pleaded not guilty during his 10 a.m. arraignment.
Today is Jeffrey Vappie's turn to enter a plea in federal court, two days after New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell's arraignment.
Like Cantrell, Vappie will be entering a not guilty plea before a federal magistrate. Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino says it is curious that Vappie is being arraigned separately from his co-defendant.
"I imagine they just wanted to stagger these arraignments to avoid an even bigger media event," Ciolino said. "It's unusual because typically defendants, co-defendants joined in the same indictment are going to be arraigned together."
Is this split arraignment a sign that Vappie is working with prosecutors? Ciolino says don't bet on it.
"I think that's reading way too much into it," he said. "I think if he was cooperating, then we would be seeing a guilty plea. He's had plenty of time to do that. It's well over a year."
Prosecutors claim Vappie lied on official forms to claim working hours when he was instead spending personal time with the mayor as part of an extramarital affair, and they also claim he and the mayor attempted to delete messages between them in an attempt to cover it up.