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Talking Pittsburgh.

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The honorable Omni Azuler.

Good afternoon.

Before we start, I would like to explain to you the process that will be following tonight.

Tonight is an arrangement session, and typically you're going to be asked a very simple question, and that is what plea would you like to enter.

Now three alternatives you have.

The first one is to enter a plea of not guilty, which means you believe you are innocent, or you believe that the city cannot prove its case against you.

The burden of proof is on the city to prove that you are guilty, you do not have to prove that you are innocent.

The second alternative is the opposite.

That's to enter a plea of guilty, which means you are accepting the facts and circumstances that are stated in the citation that you have already received.

The third alternative is called a plea of no contest, which means though you think you are innocent, you are sure that should your case goes to trial, you'll end up by being found guilty.

If you

enter a plea of no contest, you will be found guilty.

There's one advantage to a plea of no contest, that is in cases of citation where there is also a potential civil liability claim in civil court.

That is in addition to getting involved in a violation of the traffic law, for example, somebody is gonna claim that you have hurt him or her or damage their property, like in car accidents.

If you contemplate contemplating entering a plea of guilty in these type of cases, my advice to you to enter a plea of no contest because the court and civil liability claims will accept the fact that you entered the plea of guilty against you while if you enter a plea of no contest may not be used against you.

If you get in a car accident or worried that somebody may sue you for damages, my advice to you is to enter a plea of no contest.

Now,

most of you are here for alleged traffic citations.

Should understand that if I find you guilty, in addition to the fine that I'm gonna ask you to pay, we'll take from you something called demerit points.

If in one single year you accumulate 12 demerit points, your driving privilege will be revoked.

If you are here for the offense of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant, you should know that you have the right to request a jury trial.

If you do so, the trial will be held at the Dane County Circuit Court.

It will not be held in Fitchburg.

So briefly, I'm going to talk to you a little bit about our philosophy in Fitchburg.

It's our philosophy to see that justice is individualized.

What I mean by that, that I'm gonna give you an opportunity to tell me anything in mitigation of the offense that you may have committed.

I'm gonna also look at your past record.

And based on those two variables, I will come with a verdict.

It may then mean that two people faced with identical citations may have different outcomes based on the two variables that I just said.

So people who have clean record who have good mitigating circumstances, I might reduce the points or reduce the fine.

And that's the case in all traffic citations with the exception of any citations where alcohol or drugs was a factor in the issuance of the citation.

In all of these cases, I do not accept any uh kind of mitigating circumstances and any compromise of the verdict, I will issue an order in accordance with the statutory requirement.

The

same thing could be said about city ordinances, where there is a criminal code counterpart to the ordinance.

Let me explain that to you.

Fitchburg have opted to adopt city ordinances that are parallel to the criminal code.

So Fitzburg has an ordinance for theft, disorderly conduct, carrying concealed weapon, prostitution, and even arsenal.

Now, if an officer writes a complaint against a citizen, alleging that the comp the citizen have committed an offense that's in violation of the penal code, and you are being prosecuted in municipal court, you got a major break for no matter what in municipal court, the judgment of the judge is only a civil commitment rather than a criminal conviction.

So if I find you guilty today for even battery, you could clearly state in an employment application that you are not or you have not committed any criminal violation.

So

that's a great advantage.

I say all of

that