Today was my scheduled trial and I entered a plea of no contest. I recently learned that some local news agencies had reported, before the actual trial took place, that I was intending to plead guilty to the charge against me. It was never my intention nor had my lawyer ever advised me to plead guilty. However, for a few weeks now we have been discussing a plea of no contest. What is a plea of no contest and why would I choose this if I am innocent?
In every trial, there are three pleas that the accused can enter: not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere (no contest). A plea of no contest is not an admission of guilt. It is an admission that the evidence in the case is enough to bring a conviction should the case go to trial. But there are other reasons to enter a plea of no contest. In a case where a child would be required to testify against someone, a plea of no contest makes it so that the child does not have to personally appear in court. This spares the child the trauma of having to testify and of going through the cross examination of the defending attorney. What occurs when a no contest plea is entered is that one person reviews, in brief, the evidence against the accused before the judge. This is normally done by the prosecution. The case then is immediately scheduled for sentencing.
While the case will go to sentencing as if a plea of guilty were entered, a plea of no contest changes the playing field a bit. It allows for several things to happen so that the judge can hear the case and determine what punishment, if any, needs to be given to the accused. Anything could happen. While doubtful, an acquittal could be awarded. The charge could be dropped from a felony to a misdemeanor. The accused could be found guilty as charged. And anything in-between. A brief concerning the case will be created and given to the judge, the prosecution and the defense. Sentencing will be determined by the judge based on this brief and any testimony presented during the sentencing phase. Witnesses can be called and cross examined. All in all, the sentencing phase becomes like a trial with the judge making his decision based on what is best for all parties concerned.
As a result of my no contest plea, I now have to prepare for sentencing, which is scheduled for early July.
There are many things about this case that I cannot talk about in a public blog. Some of these reasons are legal. Some are for the protection of the accuser. I would ask you to respect these things in your comments. If anyone wishes additional information that cannot be shared publicly, you may email me. However, I cannot guarantee a full answer to your questions. In such a case, I will do my best to tell you why I cannot give a full answer (legal, lawyer advice, etc).
35 comments:
Seems awful risky, don't you think? An innocent person can pull time with a No Contest. But then again, I guess with a Not Guilty plea as well.
Do you maintain that you are 100% innocent?
Thanks for the update, Dan.
So you want everyone to believe that you put "your accuser" through the humiliation of having to testify at your preliminary hearing and go through all these months of agony, but you decided to plea No Contest for HER benefit? Dan you must think people were born yesterday. You know very well that if she had testified that you would be even worse off than you already are. You have not done anything for anyone's benefit except your own, and everyone who knows you knows that now. You may fool some people, but you will not fool the judge. Your sentencing is coming very soon.
Boy, I can just feel the love of Jesus. I never knew how fortunate I was to have the loving Christian friends I have until reading some of the vitriol spewed by commenters here.
So you want everyone to believe that you put "your accuser" through the humiliation of having to testify at your preliminary hearing and go through all these months of agony, but you decided to plea No Contest for HER benefit?
No. I was not given an opportunity to spare the child at the preliminary hearing. The child had to testify. There was no cross examination, etc. It was a part of the process.
You know very well that if she had testified that you would be even worse off than you already are.
This is not at all the case. Her testimony was entered at the preliminary hearing, was heard by the arresting detective, was heard by the prosecution (the commonwealth attorney), etc. So her complete testimony is completely documented. Her further vocal testimony in a court proceedings would have done me no more harm. The decision to plead no contest was to spare her trauma and this was the advise I received from several authorities involved in the case, including those involved with the child.
You may fool some people, but you will not fool the judge.
It seems fairly obvious that you do not understand the law and how it works. When the time for sentencing comes, there will be no opportunity to declare my innocence in any form or fashion before the judge. A plea of no contest, for all intents and purposes, is treated as if I had plead guilty. Therefore, the only consideration is the punishment. However, as stated, it spares the child from the trauma of public testimony.
Believe what you wish. The sole reason for me not entering a plea of not guilty was for the sake of the child.
Your sentencing is coming very soon.
Yes. Early in July.
Mike, I never said I was a Christian. I am just not as easily fooled as you.
Sorry, it's hard to tell the Anonymous commenters apart. Most of the vitriol has come from those claiming to be Christian, several of them anonymous. Of course, the last time someone said "I never said I was a Christian.' to me, it turned out that, wait for it, they were a Christian.
How have I been easily fooled? Dan may be guilty, I've never said otherwise. I'm simply, along with the Virgina court system, assuming he is innocent until proven guilty and showing him the same compassion I would show any other human being or at least try to. With some it is easier than others. Since Dan has conducted himself as a perfect gentleman on this blog, it makes it much easier to show compassion.
Hey Dan, someone said they saw you on TV and that you said the little girl tripped and you were just trying to catch her. Did you really say that?
i'll be praying for you dan. hope everything works out as God intended.
Dan,
I'm sorry it has come to this for you. I've been following your story closely for some months now, and I definitely sympathize with your plight; the troubles you have experience over the past 6 months are incredibly demoralizing and would easily break lesser men. I'm interested in your case as a perfect example of how courts will invariably favor a mother’s testimony during child litigation cases regardless of whether justice is actually being served. It’s such a double standard, especially if the mother is acting disingenuously, out of spite towards the other party. I have every confidence you can make it through this difficult period however, and that you’ll ultimately find meaning within the non-religious lifestyle you’ve adopted. I’m sincerely hoping, but not praying, that you will finally get past all this litigation BS and make a good life afterwards for yourself and the people in your family who care about you.
Hey Dan, someone said they saw you on TV and that you said the little girl tripped and you were just trying to catch her. Did you really say that?
Whoa! I never said that. I was interviewed for TV once back in November and the transcript for that can be found here:
WDBJ7 - November 20th
That was the only time I have been interviewed.
Do you maintain that you are 100% innocent?
I maintain, 100%, that I did not do that for which I am accused.
I clicked on the link to see the interview. Is that possible? All I could do was read some comments from the interview. Is there live coverage?
I maintain, 100%, that I did not do that for which I am accused.
You were accused of "touching" a 12 yr. old girl right? Obviously, the accusation is that it was an inappropriate touch, right? So was their anything inappropriate with your interaction with this child? You would certainly know what is appropriate and what is not.
I clicked on the link to see the interview. Is that possible? All I could do was read some comments from the interview. Is there live coverage?
I don't believe they keep the videos online after but a few weeks. However, the text that is there is virtually all that was on the interview. It was not very long at all.
You were accused of "touching" a 12 yr. old girl right? Obviously, the accusation is that it was an inappropriate touch, right? So was their anything inappropriate with your interaction with this child? You would certainly know what is appropriate and what is not.
I did not inappropriately touch anyone, least of all the 12-year-old girl. I did not touch her breast (which is what I am accused of doing).
Fortunately I saved it when I first saw it. I'm geeky that way.
Dan Silverman Story
People tell me judge not lest ye be judged. I always tell them, twist not scripture lest ye be like satan.
I'm confused Paul. How is a direct quote of Matthew 7:1 twisting scripture? I think it is better to quote the following verses to put it in context, but twisting? Maybe I'm misunderstanding your meaning.
Hey Mike - thank you for the link. I am a non hostile Christian, who loves the Lord with all my heart. Have a great weekend!!
"non hostile Christian"
It's just sad you have to make that distinction. Thank you for being kind. :-)
Mike, Christians are just imperfect people just like everyone else. I make the distinction that I am a non hostile Christian and you could make the distinction that you are a non hostile non believer. I am sure you would readily admit that some non believers are hostile and some are not. No difference here! As you look at the tone of the blogs, you can see just that among the believers and non believers. Anyway, still wishing you a great weekend. I would love to challenge you to just consider going to church this Sunday. Make no commitments, but just go as you continue to explore. If not, that is ok.
Non-hostile Anonymous,
I apologize if you took what I said as a criticism of Christianity, I did not mean it that way in the slightest. Do you not also find it sad that some misrepresent Christ so greatly that because they are hostile you have to make the distinction that you are non-hostile? I would think such things would bring about a re-occurrence of John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
Of course Christians are imperfect, and so are atheists and every other living creature. I wouldn't expect Christians to be any more perfect than anyone else. However, I see a message from Christ, that is of course influenced by my 20 years as a Christian. I see those who spew anger and hatred as the fruit of their faith as being diametrically opposed to that message of Christ.
I and others do make the distinction that I am a non-hostile atheist, but atheism has no message, no creeds, thus if I am hostile or non-hostile I am not misrepresenting a message like Christians who are hostile do.
Most of my closest friends are Christians, so I am with believers quite frequently. Church isn't some magical thing (I know you aren't saying that it is.), and in fact is often impersonal, and always imperfect, sometimes less than others. Corporate worship, though sometimes moving, was never really my thing. Don't worry, I am regularly exposed to the Christian message, followers of Christ, and the Bible.
The church that I used to attend was and still is filled with wonderful people. I have great respect for the lead pastor there, and I even keep up with his blog.
Thank you again for living your faith in such a way as to represent Christ with love.
Mike, it has been a busy weekend so I only have a minute but I wanted to say thank you for your kind words. I will comment more later on your response. We had a prayer walk at church today (had never participated in one) but my husband and I prayed for you and Dan. We did not pray that you would see things our way, but that God give you wisdom and insight. You sound like a great person who is surrounded by a lot of people who care deeply for you. You are blessed! Enjoy Sunday! Your non hostile Christian blog buddy!
I've been following this story since just before Christmas. It is very sad to see it turn out this way. I doubt if I were in your situation that I'd be sparing my accusers of anything.
I thought I'd point out that if you look at Mike's video at 2:12 you can see that the pastor is looking up and away which, I've heard from various sources, indicates lying. I tend to do the same when I'm trying to construct a deep thought but that was a simple yes or no question.
Dan I was wondering if you had any contact with your wife the day you were in court? How are things moving along with respect to your family? Have you seen any of your other children?
No comments for a whole day. Is everything ok?
While I don't know anything about Dan's innocence, I do know some things about the Barton. My wife was in his youth group at Shenandoah Baptist Church. The man has mental issues. He won't see this himself (most mentally ill folks don't they say). But he's like psychotic or something. Obsessively compulsive and intensely driven, he'll control folks to the snapping point. Just ask anybody from Shenandoah who knew him. They were so glad he left, they about near had a party to celebrate. He then started Heritage and we knew several there. Most of those folks are on medication (Prozac, etc.) from prolonged stress and pressure to conform but still put on the Disney Land happy face to validate that all of this cult-like control is really 'working.' But marriages are falling apart, children are miserable, and there are dark secrets and skeletons abounding. Bob Barton will continue to wreck lives and all the men's puppet strings are controlled by him. Dan is just another victim to at least some degree. There will be more I'm sure. Keep watching the newspapers. As long as there is a Heritage and Bob in control, there will be strange and weird things associated with the whole cult-like setup.
Dan, you are the one who is the destroyer by posting anonymous comments about other people. It's too late for you to plead temporary insanity now.
"While I don't know anything about Dan's innocence"
Who would plead no contest if they were innocent? This Barton/Heritage/Christianity stuff is just a smoke screen.
Dan, it's funny how some people are just obsessed with attacking you. I can't imagine how sad their lives must be.
Sad thing is that there are really some good people who came into that fellowship (Heritage) because of the other good families and folks with conservative stands (home-schooling, non-segregated worship, King James Bible stand, conservative dress and music and so on). But it is a cult or at least became that way. Anybody with any sense would leave. Once God has removed His hand from such a work and judged it so severely, you should stay far away. The House of Cards will eventually crumble.
- Steve
Some of you have specific questions. Despite how minor they may seem, due to legal reasons, I cannot always answer them on a public forum. I said this at the end of my last article:
There are many things about this case that I cannot talk about in a public blog. Some of these reasons are legal. Some are for the protection of the accuser. I would ask you to respect these things in your comments. If anyone wishes additional information that cannot be shared publicly, you may email me. However, I cannot guarantee a full answer to your questions. In such a case, I will do my best to tell you why I cannot give a full answer (legal, lawyer advice, etc).
I have said it in other articles as well. If any of you want to ask specific questions it is best to write me an email. I realize that some of you may not want me to have your email address. No problem. Create a free Gmail account (or some other free account) and use that. Once you get your answer from me, delete the account. I will do my best to answer.
Thank you.
Who would plead no contest if they were innocent?Are you Christian? If so, I wonder if you realize that no contest is essentially what Jesus pled when he was brought before Pontius Pilate: "It is you who say it."
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