Every time a guilty defendant stands up, faces the jury and after hearing the reading of the indictment, and the judge asks, "...to that charge, how do you plead?" and the guilty person boldly and without reservation says, "Not Guilty" - I believe is perjury. He's lying and although, not officially under oath, he wants the jury to believe what he's saying and let him go, so he's a perjurer.

Then, when the jury does the right thing and convicts the guilty person and the enhancement paragraph(s) are read and the judge asks "...how do you plead to the enhancement paragraph(s)?" and the perviously convicted, guilty person says "Not true", he's lying and committing perjury, even though he hasn't been sworn in. He's lying and he's wanting the jury to believe something that is not true, so not only is he guilty of breaking the law in his instant case, he's a perjurer.

Now, obviously you don't want me writing your paper, because with an intolerable, incompassionate attitude like this, your prof would recommend that you be pilloried, filed on for a hate crime, drummed out of school and banished to New Caney, Texas. But being drummed out of school wouldn't be all bad if GG were on the skins and he had gotten plenty of rest the night before. You see, G is getting older, yes I know we all hate to face that fact, but he is gaining in years. He needs a good six hours or so of sleep before he's in top form. Then after work he needs another four or five hours of shut-eye.

Exit only.

I suggest you try a search of case law on justice.com, or some other search engine you can access for free. That will give you an idea of how various jurisdictions treat this offense.

The Defendant isn't denying his guilt with a not guilty plea. The question is not "Did you do it?" but "What is your plea?" His plea is not guilty, so he has not lied, even if he did do it.

Ohhh, so you see that's why I'm not a lawyer and only a moronic banjo player. Funny, but when I sit in a courtroom, hear the prosecutor read an indictment, i.e. "...did then and there, intentionally or knowingly cause the death of ( ) by shooting him with a gun..." and the judge says, "To which charge (charge being somewhat of an operative word, as in accusation of committing the illegal act) how do you plead?"

I thought the judge was asking the defendant how he pled to the charge of killing someone by shooting them with a gun. Not, how do you plead to general circumstances about life in general and your place in the universe and whether Jupiter lines up with Mars and the moon is in the 7th house and whether peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars....

So, being me, I assumed the defendant was trying to tell the jury that "I didn't do it" as in "I didn't kill Nicole and Ron" or "I didn't rape that little girl and bury her alive" or something like that. Like, maybe pleading Not Guilty, meant he was saying he was Not Guilty. I promise to shut up from now on. Or not. But I will plead guilty to the suggestion of: Exit Only.

quote:

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Originally posted by A.P. Merillat:
But being drummed out of school wouldn't be all bad if GG were on the skins and he had gotten plenty of rest the night before. You see, G is getting older, yes I know we all hate to face that fact, but he is gaining in years. He needs a good six hours or so of sleep before he's in top form. Then after work he needs another four or five hours of shut-eye.

Exit only.

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BA DUM BUMP.

So, A.P., what you are suggesting is that they change the pleas available to the accused to 4 choices.
(1). Guilty = I dun it.
(2). Not Guilty = I didn't dun it.
(3). No Contest = Not saying I dun it, not saying I didn't - Just saying I might have dun enough to warrant me gettin a little punishment.
and the new one:
(4). Prove it = Prove it, dude/dude-ette.

"Sir, to the charges as they have been read to you in the indictment/information, how do you plea?"
"Prove it. I'd like to see them boys & gals in the cheap suits to prove it without no CSI-Vegas style DNA Tetonic trechtometer analysis (or breath test).

OK, AP, now you've gone too far:

"Now, obviously you don't want me writing your paper, because with an intolerable, incompassionate attitude like this, your prof would recommend that you be pilloried, filed on for a hate crime, drummed out of school and banished to New Caney, Texas." (Sorry, I don't know how to do the cool quote thingies like Greg does).

Being a "proud" graduate of New Caney High School, I resemble that remark
Of course, I did get the heck out immediately upon graduation and never went back, not even for a reunion, so I guess you've got a point....

Lisa, your eloquent post, in addition to putting me in my place, which is near the place that the circus hands take the Arabians' and Lippazaners' digested meals, has brought to mind a passage from the Good Book.

Paraphrasing, because I'm me and not smart, the story is that as Jesus and his disciples passed a crippled man, or physically challenged person, one of the disciples asked, "...who sinned, causing this man's infirmity; him or his parents?"

Well, I find myself wondering about things like: Who sinned, causing so and so to live in Black Cat Ridge; or who sinned, causing that lady to live in Trinity County; or, even more graphic -- Who sinned, causing that guy with the bottle of sherry and the surgical tubing to live in Hogwaller?

OK A.P. in the rest of that passage, Jesus says none of them sinned, he was made that way so that God could show his works through him, so kindly explain to the folks how his works were shown through that sherry tube....


hmmm, on second thought maybe not

quote:

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Originally posted by Lisa Tanner:
Being a "proud" graduate of New Caney High School, I resemble that remark

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Coincidentally, my family used to own a place on the banks of Peach Creek in Splendora, Texas, right up the road from New Caney. I say used to own, because in the early 80's, a flood came down Peach Creek and moved our family cabin a ways down the creek.

You're nearly on point in your post. Just got hold of this transcript, okay that's a lie, but it should help Monica with her paper.

...after evidence was heard and both sides rested and closed, the Court proceeded with the punishment charge.

THE COURT: ...it now becomes your duty to deliberate and assess the proper punishment... Note - there was some other talk, but this reporter couldn't hear most of it, but the judge did continue with: ...the defendant has chosen not to testify in this case, and you are not to take that as a circumstance against him.

JUROR NO. 3: Excuse me, judge, but during guilt/innocence, the defendant stood up and said Not Guilty to the charge, even though when we saw the video of him robbing the gas station and shooting the clerk, we decided he was guilty of the charge and it sounded to me like he lied to us.

THE COURT: You can't talk. You're a juror. This is the United States of America, this is the land of liberty and freedom and justice and you're not allowed to talk in this courtroom, so quit talking.

JUROR NO. 3: Well, judge, I'm just wondering: When the D.A. read the rest of the indictment during the punishment phase, and he said the defendant had been previously convicted of Burglary, Sexual Assault and Arson, you asked the defendant how he pled to those allegations. He said Not True. According to the evidence just now, it sounds like he was sure enough, convicted of those things. Now, you've said for the second time in this trial that the defendant has elected not to testify. But I've heard him talk at least twice, not to mention the times he snickered and raised his eyebrows at a couple of witnesses. If he's not testifying, why have you been asking him to speak out loud and make sounds with his voice that appear to be words, such as Not Guilty and Not True, then you tell us that he has not testified, even though he got to say more than anybody in the audience or the jury box, for that matter.

THE COURT: Look, mister, if you don't shut up, I'm going to have the bailiff duct tape your mouth. Do you hear me?

JUROR NO. 3: Yes sir, I do. But I'm wondering, how come the defendant walks into court with no restraints or cops holding his arms or precautions against him running off, but the victim's grandparents have to go through a metal detector, frisking wand, pat-down and perusal of their personal property before they can sit in the audience? How come the defendant gets to pour himself a nice drink of water out of that crystal pitcher and the victim's grandmother can't chew on a Tums or sip on a Bromo Seltzer during testimony?

THE COURT: Bailiff, wake up and get into that jury box and take juror number 3 to the holding cell. And wipe that gravy off your shirt. Then go see why that elderly woman in the audience is wiping her eyes and make her stop.

THE DEFENSE: Your honor, my client has been irreparably harmed by that outburst and attack on his character.

THE COURT: Yes, sir. The Court does apologize to the defendant and will take extra precautions to ensure you a fair trial. Can I get you some more water?

AP, you're better than Kelso, and alot less liberal. I guess now that you'll be wanting a sandwich named after you, like Kelso mentioned in his column last week.

Kelso invited suggestions upon what would be inside "THE KELSO".

Greg,
True confession here - we actually lived in Splendora but I went uptown to the "good school" in New Caney. My mom is still there and still gets flooded in by good old Peach Creek every few years!
AP, please cue the banjo music!

Instead of a sandwich for AP, it might be a catfish-noodles casserole.

Well, there you go. Kelso gets a sandwich; What's his name gets Ana Nicole's millions; Lisa gets a nice class ring from New Caney HS; Monica gets all this free help with her paper. The conversation always, always turns to: "Tune up the banjo, ap" "What's that noise, the garbage truck backing into a portable building, no, it's only ap's banjo medley" "So, ap, how many teeth did you have to lose before you were accepted into banjo school?" "How do you like your catfish, ap?" "What's that smell, have you been noodling, ap, or did you just come from a crime scene with a decaying corpse?" In the words of John McCain's speech writer: "Lighten up and get a life."

quote:

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Originally posted by Lisa Tanner:
Greg,
True confession here - we actually lived in Splendora but I went uptown to the "good school" in New Caney. My mom is still there and still gets flooded in by good old Peach Creek every few years!
AP, please cue the banjo music!

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Splendora, TX - luckily, whe I played against them, we played them at home in Madisonville. When my older Brother played them (in 8th grade), after the game, they had to have the bus back up to the dressing room door and have a police escort out to the city limits. THIS WAS 8TH GRADE! Needless to say, we didn't go to Splendora to chase the girls.