Right, things are a bit confused at the moment because the parent's hypothetical is so close to the case at hand.

I'm addressing parent's concrete hypothetical -- where the person accused of theft is the ceo of the company.

> that would be his time to enter in a plea of not guilty.

I think I'm wrong here, actually :)

dragonwriter provides a compelling explanation, elsewhere in this thread, for why entering a "not guilty" plea is very different from stating "I'm not guilty" outside the context of entering a plea.