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Before Court begins, you must decide upon and enter
a plea to the charge against you.
If you signed a citation in front of an officer, you did not plead
guilty, but only signed a promise to appear in Court on your appearance
date.
There are three possible pleas to a complaint:
1. Guilty
2. No Contest
3. Not Guilty
Your decision on what plea to enter is the most important decision
you will have to make. We suggest that you read the following explanations
before entering your plea.
Plea of No Contest
A plea of NO CONTEST simply means that you do not wish to contest
the City's charge against you, but wish to talk to the Judge about
mitigating circumstances.
Judgment will be entered by the Judge and some penalty will be
set.
A plea of no contest cannot be used against you in a civil suit
for damages.
Plea of Guilty
By a plea of GUILTY, you admit that you committed the act charged,
that the act is prohibited by law, and that you have no defense
for your act.
Before entering your plea of guilty, you need to understand the
following:
1. The City has the burden of proving its case against you.
You have the right to hear the City's evidence and to require it
to prove its case, when you go to trial.
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 Not Guilty
A plea of NOT GUILTY means that you are informing the Court that
you deny guilt and that the City must prove its charges against
you.
If you plead NOT GUILTY, you will need to decide whether or not
to employ an attorney to represent you at trial or at a plea docket.
You may defend yourself, but no one else except an attorney may
represent you.
However, if you are a minor (under 18 years of age) one of your
parents should be present. If you defend yourself, please consult
the At Trial section, regarding the trial
procedure and the manner of presenting your case.
Under our American system of justice, all persons are presumed
to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. On
a plea of NOT GUILTY, a trial is held and the city is required to
prove all allegations against you as contained in the formal complaint
beyond a reasonable doubt, before a verdict of guilty can be reached.
• Your Rights & Obligations:
right to an attorney, appearance and behavior in court
• Your Plea: three possible pleas
to a complaint
• At Trial: testifying on your own
behalf, witnesses, presenting your case
• After the Trial Ends: the verdict,
paying fines, right to appeal
• Download Appearing at Municipal
Court
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Your Plea in Court