Pleading “not guilty” doesn’t always imply “I didn’t do it”. It’s my understanding that it’s generally more along the lines of “I don’t think you can prove that I’m guilty of that specific charge” or even “you probably can prove it, but I bet you’d rather I just plead guilty to a lesser charge than drag me through court”.
We see it all the time with headlines like “Man caught on camera shooting his neighbor pleads not guilty to murder”. People just roll their eyes and move on, but it reality, it might just mean he was charged with murder in the first degree and his lawyer doesn’t think the DA can prove it was intentional.
At my age, a 15-25 year sentence is life. So I would spend all my money on a lawyer, plead not guilty, and fight the charges. Being free and broke is better than being life in prison with my retirement money in the bank.
So of course I’d plead not guilty. Even if I did it.
It’s usually this. And yes, the prosecuting side is generally willing to make a deal with the defendant in order to save taxpayers the expense of a trial, and the non-zero risk of defendant being acquitted at trial. Just how sweet the deal is (for the defendant) depends on the severity of the alleged crime and the strength of the evidence.
Plus by pleading guilty, AIUI, you’re pretty much at the mercy of the judge WRT the sentence. I’ve heard it mentioned a few times that it’s almost malpractice for your lawyer not to plead not guilty.
Sort of reminds me of traffic court. For something minor like a speeding ticket or rolling through a stop sign, just showing up and saying ‘no contest’ is often all it takes for the judge to reduce the fine/points.
You must not travel in my circles. Every session of traffic court I’ve attended has had a pre-game presentation by an officer of the court that told us the magistrate wasn’t going to have a lot of patience with folks engaging in what they thought would be a fancy maneuver like a nolo.
ETA: IIRC, the traffic judge wouldn’t add any penalties, they’d just treat it the same as a “guilty” plea wrt sentencing.
It’s actually entered before an attorney looks at the evidence.
There are numerous steps and court hearings and appearances between the initial appearance in court, called an arraignment, and then any eventual trial, or the hearing where a plea deal is accepted. At the arraignment, the defendant enters a plea, bail is set (which can be the defendant is released on their own recognizance) or not, and a public defender can be appointed if appropriate.
It’s only after that that discovery is provided and the defense knows how much evidence is against the client.
Almost all defendants pled not guilty or no contest at the arraignment
Isn’t that standard practice for “no contest” pleas? I was under the impression such a plea is treated as guilty by the court, but for some other purposes it’s not considered ad admission of guilt.
I would usually plead “guilty with an explanation “ instead of “no contest.” The explanation would likely be “I’m an idiot.” That would get a chuckle from the court and reduced fineage.
I got a ticket once for parking before 9 am. I fought the ticket because I sat in my car and waited until it was 9:01before leaving, and the ticket was blank for the “time”. The judge immediately offered reduction in fine for a guilty plea and I declined the offer. He sighed. I explained my side of the story, and showed him the ticket.
The judge glared at me. He assumed I erased the time from my carbon copy of the original ticket. I told him I did not do that. He told me that if he sent someone to retrieve the original ticket and the time was on the original, he’d fine me for contempt. I said fine.
Forty minutes later his clerk came back with the original ticket. There was no time written on the original. Not guilty.
I had a ticket for a busted headlight and an expired inspection sticker. I told the officer I was on my way home from a trip and would get it done ASAP. At the court, I showed 'em my receipt from the garage that confirmed I’d had it done a couple of days later. The cop didn’t show. Not guilty.
I’m not sure the judge would need to. If dozens of previous defendants have tried to get out of a ticket by erasing info, the fact that one person actually was telling the truth doesn’t invalidate the judge’s suspicions. It’s hard to know what the judge puts up with all the time.
Texas governor pardons premeditated murderer who is also a pedophile
Abbott’s pardon proclamation did not address Perry’s racist comments, stated desire to kill protesters, or inappropriate messages to an apparent minor—despite Abbott’s expressed concern for the sexualization of children in Texas. On an instant messaging platform, documents show, Perry messaged a self-identified 16-year-old: “No nudes until you are old enough to be of age. … I am going to bed come up with a reason why I should be your boyfriend before I wake up.”
Wow. The hypocricy of the right is now a defining characteristic. Isn’t their go-to talking point on why Rittenhouse is a hero is that one of the people he shot was a sex offender (which, of course, Rittenhouse had no way of knowing at the time)?
If you accuse Republicans of hypocrisy you just get a blank stare, as if you had just accused them of wearing a blue shirt. It just isn’t recognized as a bad thing any more-it is just a tool to be used.
“Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice… and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
“Liberty” and “justice” being intangible ideals, but extremism is something that can be done while several key lobes of the brain are compromised by an iron spike wedged into the skull
