Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
i watched the arraignment today on television. The entire thing seemed like a waste of time. When the judge asked the defendant and his lawyer how he wanted to plead, his lawyer said that her client wasn't going to say anything. Then, the judge entered a plea of "not guilty" into the court record. This may sound like a silly question, but could the judge have entered a plea of "guilty" instead of "not guilty"?
|
the judge entered the not guilty plea to ensure the defendant has a fair trial decided by the jury, his peers. To do otherwise would give the defendant
a myriad of appeal options. In most states prosecutors would charge him with one victim's murder so if anything went legally wrong for the prosecutions case and a not guilty verdict was returned, they would still be able to charge him with the subsequent victims homicides