Do you think Gary should plead guilty in court?

Use this forum to discuss the July 2021 Book of the month, " Worldlines: A Many Worlds Novel" (Many Worlds, #1)" by Adam Guest
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yomide
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Re: Do you think Gary should plead guilty in court?

Post by yomide »

Anna Bookowski wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 09:35 Do you think Gary should plead guilty or not? His father advised him to do so in order to pay respect to Michelle's parents. Mrs. Cohen advised him to plead not guilty as he did not remember his actions. Gary in prison was sure he did not commit the crime, but whether he was in control of his actions or not, he did commit the murder. What do you think?
No matter how i look at this, i think he made the right decision. If anyone belived him was another case entirely, the endgame was naver to be vindicated, it was to prove his innocence so the police would look for the real culprit, at least he wil. No matter what, Gary will look for Gary-blackline.
There is no point in trying to please a person who doesn't apreciate me. Besides, why do I have to try and please anyone in the first place?
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Post by Anna Bookowski »

MsH2k wrote: 30 Jul 2021, 23:41 I do not think Gary should plead guilty. In his consciousness, he did not murder Michelle. His body did, but it’s not the same thing. It is kind of like using a defense of “temporary insanity.” It is not paying respect to Michelle’s family to basically lie. Pleading guilty when he did not believe he was guilty will not bring Michelle back, and it really won’t answer her parents’ questions. They would at least know that they did not totally misread Gary and his love for their daughter if he held fast to his innocence. The other testimonies also showed that his state of mind was consistent with someone who thought they were innocent.
I totally agree with that. If he would plead guilty, the only result would be that they would look at him like he was a murderer. Michelle's parents would demand reasons, and we need to remember that Gary was not some random guy dating their daughter - they knew him for years. It would be only more painful for them if he would admit to murdering her. Claiming not guilty leaves at least some space for what's unclear. Even if they would not believe Gary's explanation, they could blame his mental state or anything, but not think about him as if he was some kind of heartless monster.
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Anna Bookowski
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Post by Anna Bookowski »

yomide wrote: 31 Jul 2021, 00:04
Anna Bookowski wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 09:35 Do you think Gary should plead guilty or not? His father advised him to do so in order to pay respect to Michelle's parents. Mrs. Cohen advised him to plead not guilty as he did not remember his actions. Gary in prison was sure he did not commit the crime, but whether he was in control of his actions or not, he did commit the murder. What do you think?
No matter how i look at this, i think he made the right decision. If anyone belived him was another case entirely, the endgame was naver to be vindicated, it was to prove his innocence so the police would look for the real culprit, at least he wil. No matter what, Gary will look for Gary-blackline.
Yeah, after this whole discussion from last weeks I also came to this. It would make no good if he'd plead guilty. However, I'm still concerned about the legal consequences of this all. I guess the only reasonable solution would be to pronounce Gary mentally unstable, otherwise, I don't know... If he would be left free because he claimed to be possessed by other him, it would just open the door for common criminals to use this way of defense in the future, and obviously, this would be disastrous.
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Post by Dartemis »

While I don’t think it is fair since this version of Gary wasn’t in control when the murder happened, looking at it from an outsiders’ perspective, it would make things easier and might get himself a lighter sentence maybe if he pleaded guilty. At the very least he could have pleaded for insanity with DID or something since that would be the closest comparison to what actually happened.
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Post by SweetSourSalty AndSpicy »

I think the version of Gary who committed the crime should be the only one to plead guilty. The other versions that are innocent should not.
However, it would be challenging to prove guilt or innocence. Ideally, the worldlines should not be used as an escape but rather as an inspiration to create better versions of the self.
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Post by Tarie07 »

Gary did commit the murder and there is a video as evidence. However he was not in a conscious state of mind and I do not think it would be fair to sentence him for doing something while he was not even aware of his actions. Whichever way he pleads, I think he is going to be a prisoner of his own thoughts because he loved Michell.
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Post by Atieno Magero »

I think Gary should plead not guilty. Even though there's proof of him killing Michelle, he didn't actually do it. The other worldlines Gary did it while lucid dreaming. However proving his innocence to the jury will be hard given the logical aspect of things.
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Post by Ruchi Raina »

I don't think he should plead guilty because he didn't commit that crime in his conscious state of mind or when he was in full control of his actions. He loved Michelle, so pleading guilty would be accepting that he killed her and that burden would be too heavy for him to carry. Even our law states that nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, because of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law. Here Gary didn't know what he was doing. So he shouldn't plead guilty.
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Post by Parahiyo »

I personally think that Gary should no plead guilty. He did not plan or intend to kill. Proving his innocence will be an obstacle.
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Post by Precious DA »

Although pleading guilty might make Gary eligible to a lighter sentence, I do not think he should plead guilty as he was not in the right state of mind and did not commit the murder. Pleading guilty will just make people see him as a murderer.
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Post by onyii_review »

An action is an action same with commuting a crime. Whether or not he knew what he was doing. Because one is unconscious while committing a crime doesn't make it less of a crime. There's evidence that he commited this crime so he should face the consequences.
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Post by Shannon Ruane »

Anna Bookowski wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 09:35 Do you think Gary should plead guilty or not? His father advised him to do so in order to pay respect to Michelle's parents. Mrs. Cohen advised him to plead not guilty as he did not remember his actions. Gary in prison was sure he did not commit the crime, but whether he was in control of his actions or not, he did commit the murder. What do you think?
Hi! I agree with Gary's choice to plead not guilty. I would have done the same. Have you read the book and asking other people's opinions or are you in the middle? Given how many worldlines there are, there will always be a Gary that is convicted and that (by some miracle is saved) when the trial ends. Don't let the ending prevent you from reading the sequel The Futility of Vengence. I read both and I hope Adam Guest writes a third book.
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Post by Josie Wert »

I think Gary should keep playing the “I wasn’t in control” card. While the evidence is surely incriminating, Gary knows that he would never hurt Michelle. Emotionally, in the event that he pleads guilty, he may start believing that he was guilty. He should be able to find comfort that it wasn’t truly him. Yes, it was him in another Worldline, but in theory we can be completely different people because of our experiences. I don’t think that Gary should hold himself responsible for Michelle’s murder in his own heart, let alone in front of the world.
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Post by Shannon Ruane »

Anna Bookowski wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 09:35 Do you think Gary should plead guilty or not? His father advised him to do so in order to pay respect to Michelle's parents. Mrs. Cohen advised him to plead not guilty as he did not remember his actions. Gary in prison was sure he did not commit the crime, but whether he was in control of his actions or not, he did commit the murder. What do you think?
I think this surrounds the whole issue of intention. Gary loved Michelle and had no intention of harming her and having no recollections of committing the crime may be a valid reason for him not pleading guilty.
[/quote]

Hi! I disagree with the line of thought that the only reason Gary should plead guilty is to pay respect to Michelle's family. The family is never going to forgive Gary for the murder. The brief satisfaction they would receive from hearing the verdict is not going to bring Michelle back from the dead.

All he would do by pleading guilty would be an admission of guilt for a crime he did not commit. I have heard of plea-bargains but those are usually, "plead guilty and we will charge you will a different crime so you receive a lighter sentence" or "death penalty VS life in prison with the possibility of parole at X number of years." In those cases, Gary's choosing to plead guilty might be to preserve his life and worthy of consideration. I am glad he did not plead guilty because he did not commit the crime. How he will prove it, as is mentioned in the story, will be a miracle and appears impossible.
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Post by Nqobile Mashinini Tshabalala »

I think Gary will live with the guilt of having killed Michelle for the rest of his life and that for me is punishment enough. He loved her, and having to live without her is another very harsh punishment. Also, not knowing having no recollection of the event is traumatic on its own. Personally, I think he should not plead guilty.
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