Not exactly. It’s more like asking the defendant, “Do we have to prove you are guilty, or are you going to save us the effort?”
You are free to answer “Not guilty” even if you did it. It doesn’t mean “I’m innocent”, it means “I’m not admitting guilt”. In other words, “Prove it”.
Close, it means - “I’m not admitting guilt under these specific circumstances.” They could be working out a plea deal with the prosecution for a specific sentence, or a dozen other things up to, and including the “prove it” gamble.
“Not guilty” doesn’t necessarily mean “innocent”. Often it just means “not confessing”, ie the prosecution has to go through the motions to prove he’s guilty.
If you plead “no contest”, the prosecution does not have to prove your guilt and the court will proceed to sentencing just as if you had pleaded “guilty”. Functionally, it is identical to a guilty plea.
no contest: A plea by a criminal defendant that they will not contest a charge. A no contest plea does not expressly admit guilt, but nonetheless waives the right to a trial and authorizes the court to treat the criminal defendant as if they were guilty for purposes of sentencing.
“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.
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).
Prosecutor: “The defendant is charged with murder.”
Judge: “How do you plead?”
Defendant: “Not guilty, your honor.”
Judge: “Okay, the trial will begin on…”
In the US justice system the defendant is presumed innocent until they either plead guilty or the prosecution proves that they are guilty. That’s just how it works.
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