Plea Options

Plea of Guilty

By a plea of guilty (under most circumstances), you admit that you committed the act charged, that the act is prohibited by law and that you have no legal defense.

1) By pleading guilty, you are waving your right to remain silent. Absent your plea of guilty, the City would have the burden of proving the case against you.
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 not Guilty

A plea of not guilty means that you deny guilt and the City must prove its charges against you. Your case will be set for trial and will be tried on that same day or you will be given a date to appear. You will receive no other notice of your trial date.

If you plead not guilty, you must 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.

At trial, the City must prove the charge against you as contained in the formal complaint "beyond a reasonable doubt" before a verdict of guilty can be reached.