31.   But Gen. Pace ruled that both should face the more serious charge.

32.   But he said the severity of the most serious charge, trying to kill a president, could warrant asking for a more severe sanction.

33.   But in recent years, Mexican authorities have stepped up enforcement, charging violators with more serious smuggling charges.

34.   But if the drowning was a hoax, officials said, he and Ms. Kuda could face considerably more serious charges.

35.   But no responsible prosecutor would make such a deal unless the suspect agreed to plead to a serious charge and unless he talked first, which Hale would not.

36.   But the chairman has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and Monday night he issued a statement expressing pleasure that the most serious charges against Ms. Eppard were dropped.

37.   But the most serious charges against Bailey involved the killing of Mrs. Brach.

38.   But the most serious charges raised by Turover regard the credit cards reportedly issued to Yeltsin and his daughters, Yelena Okulova and Tatyana Dyachenko.

39.   But they do deny a far more serious charge.

40.   But the jurors continued to debate more serious charges, signaling that they were wrestling with the credibility of the main prosecution witness, a Mafia turncoat.