NO INDICTMENT? − NO CONFINEMENT!

California never lawfully charged your loved one — and Without One Plea can prove it.

Free those who are unlawfully confined. — Isaiah 58:6

The handsome duo in the picture is my son Daniel and me — 52 years ago.

I am Lonnie G. Schmidt. I spent years in a California prison while the state held me without the documents its own law required. Dan went Home to be with the Lord in 2018, while I was still inside.

I am just one of thousands.

The name "Without One Plea" comes from a simple fact. California law provides no plea to a felony complaint (Penal Code Section 1016). No "guilty," no "not guilty," no "no contest" is available — because the law does not authorize a complaint as the charging document in a felony case. A grand jury indictment or an information is what the Constitution requires. Yet for decades, defendants have been made to plead to documents the law does not permit any plea to.

And, CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz admitted in writing in 2020 that CDCR has no authority to confine without an indictment and accept custody without a signed Judgment of Conviction. Nothing has been corrected. For illustrations of the defects, see Unlawful Access / Access Denied.  

Since 2016, Without One Plea has reviewed 500+ cases. All of them show the same defects.

The people still inside. Fathers who have not held their children in twenty years. Mothers who missed every birthday. Sons whose parents died while they were inside — as mine did. And in case after case, the documents the state is required by law to produce as authority to hold them, do not exist.

If you have a loved one in a California prison, pull the first accusatory pleading in the record and the Judgment of Conviction from the Superior Court of conviction. If the first pleading is a Complaint, or there is no signed Judgment of Conviction, your loved one is being held without the lawful authority California law requires. Visit withoutoneplea.org to begin the journey home.

Your support allows Without One Plea to continue providing free advocacy, case review, and educational content to prisoners and families with nowhere else to turn — helping them seek relief from unlawful confinement and hold the officials responsible accountable on the public record. We have already delivered illustrated educational explainers and have narrative videos in production. See Updates for new goals and how donations are deployed.

The last week of his life, discussing the truths I’d learned on the phone, Dan said: "Dad, you're right, but they don't care, they just don't care."

I told Dan then what I will tell you now: government works for the People. It is our responsibility to make our employees comply with the law.

If we don't, who will?

Lonnie G. Schmidt Founder, Without One Plea P.O. Box 2298, Lodi, CA 95241 info@withoutoneplea.com