A convicted sex offender pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and raping a Northern California girl when she was 11 and holding her captive for nearly two decades.
It came as a surprise after an attorney said Phillip Garrido had made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty. It would have sent him to prison for the rest of his life.
Garrido, who fathered the two children of victim Jaycee Dugard, made the plea to an amended indictment that added allegations of kidnapping of a person under 14, kidnapping for sexual purposes and other claims.
His wife, Nancy Garrido, also pleaded not guilty to the charges. The next hearing was set for May 5, and the trial for Aug. 1.
Dugard was snatched from her family's South Lake Tahoe street in June 1991 while walking to a school bus stop.
