The best time to plead not guilty.

Legal analysis: The investigation stage is the best opportunity for lawyers to defend innocence. Because criminal cases have gone through a long investigation stage and a review and prosecution stage before reaching the court for trial. Then, in the trial stage of the court, the evidence in the case file is generally well collected, and it is difficult for lawyers to plead not guilty. Unless there are sufficient evidence and reasons, lawyers prefer to choose a lighter defense rather than an innocent defense. The best time for criminal innocence defense is golden 37 days.

Legal basis: Article 1 16 of the Code for Lawyers Handling Criminal Cases. If a defense lawyer disagrees with the crime charged in the indictment and pleads not guilty or should not be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law, he may express his opinions on the following aspects: (1) The defendant has no opinions on the facts of the crime; (two) the opinion that the facts are unclear and the evidence is insufficient; (3) The opinion that the defendant's behavior does not constitute a crime according to law; (4) The defendant has not reached the legal age of criminal responsibility; (5) The opinion that the defendant belongs to a mental patient who is not criminally responsible according to law; (6) Opinions that criminal responsibility should not be investigated under the circumstances stipulated in Article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Law: if the circumstances are obviously minor and the harm is not great, it is not considered a crime; The crime has passed the limitation period for prosecution; Exempt from punishment through Amnesty; Failing to tell or withdraw a crime that should be dealt with according to the criminal law; The criminal suspect or defendant dies; Other laws provide for exemption from criminal responsibility.