Explanations of Your Plea

Plea of Guilty

By a plea of GUILTY, you admit that you committed the act charged, that the act is prohibited by law and that you have no defense for your act.

Before entering a plea of guilty you need to understand the following:
 1. The City has the burden of proving its case against you. You have the right to hear the City's evidence and to require the City to prove its case when you go to trail.
 2. If you were involved in a traffic accident at the time of the alleged offence, your plea of guilty could be used later in a civil suit for damages as an admission by you that you were at fault or were the party responsible for the accident.

Plea of Not Guilty

A plea of NOT GUILTY means that you are informing the Court that you deny charges against you.

If you pleaded not guilty, you will need to decide whether to employ an attorney to represent you at trial. You may defend yourself, but no one else except an attorney may represent you. However, if you are a minor (under 18 years of age) one of your parents should be present.

If you defend yourself, please consult The Trial Process and the manner of Presenting Your Case.

Plea of No Contest

A plea of NO CONTEST simply means that you are informing the Court that you deny charges against you, but you wish to talk to the Judge about mitigating circumstances. Judgment will be entered by the Judge and some penalty will be set. A PLEA OF NO CONTEST CANNOT BE USED AGAINST YOU IN A CIVIL SUIT FOR DAMAGES.

Under our American system of justice, all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. On a plea of "Not Guilty" a trial is held and the City is required to prove all the allegations against you as contained in the formal complaint "beyond a reasonable doubt" before a verdict of guilty can be reached.


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