Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in the sprawling Fulton County election interference case, according to a new court filing.
Trump had been scheduled to be arraigned in person on Wednesday. Georgia law allows criminal defendants to waive their in-person appearance and enter a formal plea through court filings.
His arraignment marks the fourth time that Trump has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges since leaving the presidency. In this case, Trump is charged with racketeering in his alleged efforts to upend the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
Now now, think about it.
Long story short, if your plea is a lie, it should be an additional charge to keep you locked away longer. Helps disincentivize people pleading not guilty when they know they can’t beat the charge and wasting everyone’s time and money. Encourages plea deals.
Ok, you’re a troll, I get it. But for everyone else reading this - There’s already PLENTY of incentive to plea out. Too much incentive.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2018/07/31/are-innocent-people-pleading-guilty-a-new-report-says-yes/
This is just one story, go ahead and do a search and you’ll find PLENTY more - how many stories can you find just in your local paper for someone who’s been in jail for 10 years before they’re released with not much more than a “sorry about that, tough luck, buddy.”
Cops already lie to defendants and say “we know you did it, we have 7 witnesses and DNA evidence. Just plea out and take a year of jail, or go to trial and get 20 years.” The defendant has no cash for bail, has no way of getting a good lawyer, so they have a public defender. Now they ALSO have an extra “oh, and if you say you’re not guilty at pre-trial, we’ll add another 10 years for perjury. Good luck, sucker!”
Sure, you might think it’s a good thing to lock up more people, but innocent people get locked up ALL THE TIME. Including innocent people coerced into confessing to crimes they didn’t commit. You personally could very easily be one of those people someday, even if you never break the law (which itself is almost impossible.)
Finally - here’s a very famous historical YouTube video explaining EXACTLY how you can get railroaded into prison without doing anything wrong - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
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