Off on a tangent :
In the dear days (almost) beyond recall ... when writing the results of court cases in the 1970s/1980s our Editor-in-Chief insisted upon "He pleaded not guilty" even though we tended to say "He pled not guilty" ... now I see "pled" used all the time! Our Editor-in Chief insisted pleaded was correct and pled (in our news writing) was forbidden! Was he just a stickler or is there a rule about that?
Just askin'.