I suggested that Pete not enter any plea, as that's sort of an admission of jurisdiction over him... which the court actually lacks. However, he just informed me that the court-appointed attorney notified Pete that he would be held until he entered a plea. Well, according to Rule 11 (a) 1 of Maine's Rules of Criminal Procedure, if a defendant fails to enter a plea the judge will enter a "not guilty" plea for him.
Pete told the attorney that he'd been without representation during his initial appearance; and according to Rule 5 (d) of the MRCP, if a person who requests counsel qualifies, counsel shall be assigned "not later than the initial appearance." Obviously Pete didn't have counsel for his initial appearance on May 19 - I later blogged about how I was handcuffed for trying to assist him, and according to Pete, Judge Hunter apparently banned me from the courtroom, unless I have charges pending against me! Oh, and I discovered the following in the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, under Rule 1 (b) Scope...
"These rules are not applicable to forfeiture of property for a violation of a statute of the State of Maine or the collection of fines and penalties."The courts use Black's Law Dictionary; so I googled Black's definition of "forfeiture." From the link, the term "forfeiture" is defined as "the loss of property or a privilege due to breaking a law."
