DA: Heuermann guilty plea happened 'organically'

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, speaking at Wednesday's press conference, declined to discuss how Rex Heuermann's guilty plea came about.

"That's third-rail stuff. That's unethical behavior," he said. "We don't talk about that."

But Tierney said the plea deal happened "organically."

"There was no negotiation with regards to numbers," he said. "The reason why this case pled guilty was because it was the defendant's decision to plead guilty. The defendant wanted to plead guilty. If the defendant didn't want to plead guilty, the defense would have taken this case to trial."