This difference you speak of has never been a part of this discussion. The question at hand is: Would you be willing to settle a lawsuit out of court when you're not guilty of what you'd been accused?
My answer is an unequivocal "NO!" Yours is ... "Well, maybe. What kind of deal are you offering?"
By all means, do whatever you want. For your sake, I hope you don't ever get accused of anything.
I guess you're confused. I've never said I'd "volunteer for prison." I said I'd fight tooth and nail any false accusations made against me.
Our judicial system is based on the premise that I am innocent walking in the door. When I'm innocent and I refuse to settle or cop a plea, I am not "volunteering for prison."
No, you're just taking a foolish gamble.
I'm just willing to take my chances that the judge/jury are more insightful and honest than... well, you.
I guess you don't value your freedom as much as I do.
See, I have the capacity to think logically and separate my irrational desires from a rational cost-benefit analysis.
In your admittedly ****ty hypothetical, I am choosing between two options:
1) Refuse the plea and face prosecution for the rape of an 8 year old child in a case with "convincing" evidence, or
2) Pay $750k and apologize.
Since I have some familiarity with the law, I know that a "convincing" case against a male accused of raping an 8 year old child has a very high probability of resulting in a conviction. Since that's a class B violent felony in NY, I'd expect something like 15 or 20 years.
When you calculate for lost earnings, the value I place on loss of freedom and career damage, the cost of such a penalty would be well into the millions already.
Since I am a rational human being, I can take an objective look at my two options:
1) Losses in the millions, prison rape, and total loss of reputation, or
2) Losses of $750k, bruised sense of justice
I'd probably pick choice 2. Guess I'm just not as principled as you.