Legal Advice on Accepting a Plea
In a courtroom, when a defendant is asked to plea guilty or innocent, the judge is the ruling officerwho determines if the plea is acceptable. For example, in a trial where a man was charged of"Capital Murder," the man may have originally plead guilty, but may later–in court--profess hisinnocence, claiming threats from legal representatives were made against him. The judge then wasresponsible to determine if the accusations were in fact true; and if the substantial evidence pendingagainst the defendant was sufficient to accept the plea of guilt.
Thus, few judges may accept the plea if the judge feels it is not necessary for a jury or the public tohear the details of the case. The defendant then appears in court and may be offered a plea bargain,or in some cases no plea bargaining is offered. Thus, this man made the biggest mistake of his life,since he professed his innocence while pleading guilty of the charge. Facing the death penalty, theman is standing between the law and God, and praying that the higher source will come through forhim. (Check the Alford Case for more details, and Steinberger 1985)
Pleas are accepted then by the residing judge in the courtroom. If you are accused of a crime–nomatter how minor it may seem--it is important to learn more about pleas, since pleas are whatdetermines your appearance. If you are innocent of a crime, regardless of threats coming from legalrepresentations, do not plea guilty. Rather, force the courts to weigh out the evidence in a publiccourt to determine your guilt. Remember, the laws work in reverse. When the courts says you areinnocent until guilt is proven beyond a doubt, what the courts are really saying is you are guilty untilinnocence is proven beyond a doubt.
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