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ENTERING YOUR PLEA
When you make your initial
appearance, you must decide upon and enter a plea to the charge against
you. By signing the citation in front of an officer, you did not
plead guilty, but only signed a promise to appear in court. There
are three possible pleas to a complaint:
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Guilty
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Nolo Contendere (No Contest)
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Not Guilty
Your decision on what plea to enter is very important. We suggest
that you read the following explanations of all three plea options prior
to your appearance. Failure to appear once a court date is set
will result in a warrant being issued for your arrest and additional
fees being levied for failure to appear.
PLEA OF GUILTY
By pleading guilty, you admit that
you committed the act charged, that the act is prohibited by law, and
that you have no defense for your actions. Before entering your
plea of guilty, you need to understand the following:
1. The State has the burden of
proving its case against you. You have the
right to hear the State's evidence and to require it to
prove its case.
If it does not, the law does not require you to prove
anything.
2. If you were involved in a
traffic accident at the time of the alleged
offense, 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 NOLO CONTENDERE (NO CONTEST)
A plea of nolo contendere,
also known as no contest, simply means that you do not wish to contest
the State's charge against you. Nolo contendere has the same legal
effect as a guilty plea, but without the civil liability. You may
also be able to talk to the City Prosecutor about circumstances
regarding the violation.
PLEA OF NOT GUILTY
A plea of not guilty
means that you are informing the Court that you deny guilt and that the
State must prove its charges against you. If you plead not guilty,
your case will be scheduled for the next available trial date. You
will need to decide whether to employ an attorney to represent you at
trial. Only you or a licensed attorney may defend a case in court.
If you represent
yourself, please be advised that this court is a court of record.
All proceedings will be conducted according to the rules of criminal
procedure and the rules of evidence. If you choose to represent
yourself, you must be prepared. The court staff, baliff,
prosecuting attorney, or judge cannot act as your attorney by providing
legal advice or legal assistance in the presentation of your case.
Under our American system
of justice, all persons are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
On a plea of not guilty, a formal trial will be scheduled. As in a
criminal trial, the State is required to prove the guilt of the
defendant "beyond a reasonable doubt" of the offense charged in the
complaint before a defendant can be found guilty by a judge or jury.
PLEASE
NOTE: FAILURE TO APPEAR IN COURT ON YOUR SCHEDULED DATE WILL
RESULT IN A WARRANT OF ARREST BEING ISSUED.
A cash bond may be
required for resetting a case for court. If a cash bond is posted
and you are found not guilty, the bond posted will be refunded. If
you are found guilty, the bond or parts thereof will be applied toward
the assessed fine.
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