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Originally Posted by FanIn80
Except they're still innocent while they're on the stand, so the "but they did do it" wouldn't (shouldn't, at least) come into play.
Granted, if they were pretty adament about not doing anything throughout the course of the proceedings, and stuck to that even in their post-findings address to the court (having been found guilty), then that would demonstrate a lack of remorse, which would be taken into account during the decision of punishment.
But if all we're talking about is an "I didn't do it" during the actual arrest, then... I mean, I can't imagine there are a lot of times when someone says "It was me, it was all me, I confess to everything" while they're being cuffed lol.
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Of course it comes into play. Presumption of innocence is what you go in with. Then you tell your story if you get on the stand. If that story is inconsistent with your prior statement it affects your credibility. A judge or jury is entitled to reject testimony if it lacks credibility.
So now, if he changes his story from, for example, "nothing happened" to "we had a fight and both people were physical" the next question is "why did you lie to the police" and the third question is "well, which story should we believe, or is none of it true"?