Without One Plea (WOP) was founded in 2016 by Lonnie G. Schmidt, an advocate and legal researcher with decades of independent legal research in federal and state jurisdiction. WOP is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation. Every engagement begins with the case file. Every demand is built on statute, binding case law, and the California and Federal Constitutions.
California law requires all felony prosecutions to be initiated by indictment or information. Based on WOP's case review experience to date, approximately 98% of California felony prosecution since 1951 were initiated by criminal complaint rather than indictment or information — an accusatory pleading District Attorneys have no constitutional authority to file as a first pleading in a felony case. No valid first pleading means no court jurisdiction. No jurisdiction means no valid judgment. No valid judgment means no lawful authority to imprison.
WOP examines each client's case records for jurisdictional and custody defects. Where one is found, WOP prepares certified demand letters delivered via U.S.P.S. Certified Mail to CDCR, the Governor, and the Attorney General — formally demanding lawful commitment authority or unconditional release, return of seized restitution, and establishing on the record financial damages for false imprisonment.
WOP does not focus on guilt or innocence, rehabilitation, or sentencing. The question WOP asks is prior to all of that — did the state follow lawful constitutional procedure from the start? That answer is verifiable. It is grounded in the California Constitution, the Penal Code, and settled case law confirmed by state and federal courts since 1867. The law has not changed. It has simply not been applied.
One legal question drives each case WOP handles: does the state hold lawful authority to continue to imprison this person? Under California law and CDCR's own operational manual, that authority requires a valid court-ordered commitment document upon prisoner intake. Where that document does not exist, the law's remedy is unconditional release. WOP documents exactly that defect — case by case, on the record.
Every position WOP advances is grounded in the California Constitution, the Penal Code, and binding case law — settled holdings confirmed across more than 150 years of consistent jurisprudence.
Every demand to the state is sent via U.S.P.S. Certified Mail with Return Receipt. Every notice creates a traceable, unambiguous record of what was sent, when it was received, who was placed on notice and responsible to act.
The state's authority to prosecute / imprison any person depends on whether proper constitutional procedure was followed from the first pleading forward. If it was not, the court was without jurisdiction, and no subsequent process cures the defect.
Without One Plea was founded in 2016 by Lonnie G. Schmidt. Every client engagement starts with examining the court record. Where the authorities California law requires for prosecution and imprisonment of felonies are absent from the record, —the indictment, the information, the judgment of conviction— WOP documents the defect, identifies the responsible public officials, and pursues civil accountability through a commercial process culminating with a client lien filed against the responsible party, county, and state. That lien is a documented, enforceable claim against identifiable public officials— the mechanism by which compensation and release are pursued.
Services are currently available for those persons confined in California prisons only.
P.O. Box 2298, Lodi, California 95241
2016–2026© Without One Plea. All rights reserved.