“Not confessing” and “not contesting” are different things. So, as I originally said, someone who doesn’t want to confess can still plead not guilty. Which, as I said, has a completely different function than pleading no contest.
someone who doesn’t want to confess can still plead not guilty.
Then they would be contesting the charges. A plea of ‘not guilty’ means you are contesting the charges.
has a completely different function than pleading no contest.
Yes, contesting the charges has a completely different function than not contesting the charges.
You seem to equate a plea of ‘not guilty’ with ‘not confessing.’ This isn’t true. A plea of not guilty means you are contesting the charges.
A plea of ‘no contest’ means you are not contesting the charges, nor are you admitting guilt (confessing.)
Sorry, I’ve explained things as best I can. If you don’t get it now, you never will and I think we should both move on.
You seem to equate a plea of ‘not guilty’ with ‘not confessing.’
That’s not what I said. I said that “not guilty” does not necessarily mean “innocent”. One can plead “not guilty” if one is not innocent. If so, that can be understood as “not admitting guilt but contesting the charges”. But that is still not the same as “no contest”, which can be understood as “not admitting guilt but not contesting the charges”.
Functionally, the only thing that matters is whether one contests the charges. Which is why “no contest” (not admitting guilt but not contesting) is functionally the same as “guilty” (admitting guilt and not contesting).
