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HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas man so moved by the Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ" that he went to police in March and confessed to killing his girlfriend pleaded not guilty to the murder on Monday.
The surprise courtroom plea by Dan Leach, 21, stunned the victim's parents, but his attorney said a guilty plea would have hindered his defense ahead of a scheduled Aug. 9 trial.
"If I entered a plea of guilty, I waive several valuable rights that I'm not prepared to do so for my client at this time," lawyer Ralph Gonzalez told reporters outside the Fort Bend County courthouse near Houston.
He would not comment directly on whether Leach agreed with the plea, but said, "His position and my position right now are diametrically opposed in several areas and I've demanded that he follow my advice if he wants to keep me as his lawyer."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=2&u=/nm/20040504/od_nm/crime_christ_dc
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