Discussion for article #240664
Maybe Kim Davis will pay him a conjugal visit…
Wait a minute. He pleads guilty and his lawyers say it is patently untrue that he did it. Somebody does not understand the law. Or logic.
Actually, innocent people accept plea bargains and plead guilty all the time.
Not contending this guy is one of them, but every lawyer knows that and understands both the logic (jury trials are unpredictable and if you try it, you’ll get the maximum) and the law (once a jury rules, it’s findings of fact are presumed correct and even evidence of actual innocence can be insufficient to get relief from a judgment.)
But Steve, this is not a nolo plea. It is “I am guilty”.
damn…i’m impressed. looking forward to the denunciations of loretta lynch and the doj targeting this man who was only expressing his first amendment rights…/s
Many states, mine for example, don’t have nolo pleas. And my recollection is that you can’t plead no contest in federal court either.
In federal court, and in many, and I believe most, states, pleading guilty to something is a prerequisite to a plea deal. North Carolina is one of them. Which is why, every year, millions of people who are totally innocent, and many millions more who aren’t guilty of the crimes they’re charged with though they may be guilty of something else, plead guilty pursuant to plea deals. The worse the penalty for what you’re charged with, the harder it is to say no to a plea deal. And, likewise, the more trivial the crime you have to plead to avoid being tried for something with a much higher penalty, the harder it is to say no.
When you’re charged with capital murder and facing life, or death, and you’re offered a plea of manslaughter with seven years active time, it takes courage to say no, particularly when you’re represented by a public defender with two or three hundred other cases and no budget, no staff and no investigatory resources. Likewise, if you’re wrongfully charged with a driving offense that will lose you driving privileges and offered a plea down to some offense that will just cost you a few bucks, it’s hard to say no to that.
For those who are not Prime members…
My comment in the Hive from February 14, 2014…
Just tying up loose ends…
~OGD~
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Thanks for the lesson, Steve.
Could we start getting even this much jail time for the police officers who are actually killing black people?