I read a blog post from Byran Garner who is the self appointed guru of legal writing. I enjoy Mr. Garner’s comments on writing style and word usage even though I might end a sentence with a preposition. In his post today , he commented on whether you should use pleaded guilty or pled guilty .

First, I wonder if Mr. Garner is ever stepped in front criminal jury or appeared in a criminal court room. according to Mr. Garner the correct usage is pleaded guilty. I beg to differ . In the criminal courts of Nashville Davidson County Tennessee you pled guilty. Modern usage trumps proper usage in Nashville. However , I spell checked the piece and it did not recognize the word pled. Mr. Garner is probably correct . But in the South ,  I think I will use pled. I will save pleaded for some stuffy brief. I intend to post a comment. I expect to get a grammar lesson.