The punishment is the same, so refusing to comply with probation will bring the same punishment regardless of why. She is charged with robbery and assault. The next thing Johnny knows, he is waking up in a jail cell, then he is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, and assault causing great bodily harm. As long as we have plea bargaining, he maintains, innocent defendants should be free to use these pleas to enter advantageous plea bargains without lying. Both kinds of plea result in convictions. [30], Alford plea (see North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. Photo Credit: Netflix. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Alford died in prison in 1975. Instead, the defendant pleads to avoid the potential consequences of going to trial, and . In other words, an Alford plea is the same as pleading guilty while also claiming to be innocent. Strong evidence of the defendants guilt is constitutionally required before a court may accept a defendants Alford guilty plea because there is no admission of guilt. Although there were no witnesses to the shooting, the evidence strongly indicated that Alford was guilty. Alford Plea. Defendant entered into a negotiated "Alford" plea to Count II (class 2 felony) with a sentencing cap of 12 years. [8] Steven Braga, a D.C. Attorney from Damien's defense team, said " [t]he Alford plea was the only compromise I could come up with to try to bridge the gap between the State's absolute . The defendant, who had competent counsel, knowingly entered his guilty plea in order to avoid this outcome. North Carolina laws stated that at the time, capital punishment was the default for this crime if the defendant plead not guilty and the jury did not suggest life imprisonment. 4. allows defendant to plea guilty while claiming innocence. In that case, the defendant was indicted for first-degree murder. This is archived content from the U.S. Department of Justice website. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. punishment). Avoiding this process may, in the end, reduce the defendants culpability, conviction, and sentencing for those acts. This often takes the form of a brief discussion in court, in which the judge asks whether the defendant understands that he is accepting punishment as though he is guilty, even if he is making an Alford plea, or no contest. During the party, a man Johnny did not know showed up with one of Johnnys friends. U.S. An Alford plea is a guilty plea entered by a defendant who says he or she is innocent. Robbery is a serious offense that earns Lilly a strike. ThoughtCo. 1970 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the case of North Carolina v. Alford. In this plea, the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence, but admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty. Keeping these cases closed with no investigation means that the true culprit of these crimes is often left undiscovered and unpunished. Alfords defense attorney appealed his conviction, claiming that his client had been forced into entering a guilty plea for a crime he did not commit, because he was afraid of receiving the death penalty. In December, Gunna entered a negotiated Alford plea and was released from jail later in the day. Privacy Policy. Both an Alford plea and a no contest plea are the functional equivalents of a guilty plea. As it turns out, Johnny is a local drug distributor doling out drugs to local dealers for sales, and paying the wholesaler his cut. The Alford plea is named after the U.S. Supreme Court case, North Carolina v. Alford, from 1970. What was the death penalty in North Carolina? So what is an Alford plea, and why does it matter? It's also a form of self-preservation, as using the Alford Plea may lead to the . Michael Peterson Maintains His Innocence. From the case of Kennedy v.Frazier, 178 W.Va. 10, 357 S.E.2d 43 (1987), in which the procedure was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.. Noun []. If Owens had done what the prosecution had preferred, and taken the Alford plea, justice would not have been served and prosecutorial misconduct would have largely been completely covered. Like a nolo contendere plea, an Alford plea allows a criminal defendant to enter a guilty plea without admitting guilt. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Pp. [13], Defendants can take advantage of the ability to use the Alford guilty plea, by admitting there is enough evidence to convict them of a higher crime, while at the same time pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Plea bargaining according to Jay (324) "is a deal, an agreement between the defendant (through her attorney) and the prosecutor that the defendant will plea guilty in exchange for the prosecutions reducing the seriousness of the charges against the defendant. The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine. "[21] He said of the Supreme Court case, "They had to make a decision about what to do. Alford pleas: A Violation of Rights or a Psychological Slave?. She is bilingual in Spanish. His crimesalleged or otherwisehave been immortalized in film and television, including episodes of Forensic Files, Cold Case, The New Detectives, Trial & Error, Dateline NBC, and others. Sometimes criminal defendants use this type of plea because the evidence against them is too strong to make a difference in avoiding a conviction. Sixteen months later, in fall of 2008, the State prosecutor informed the judge that the State was declining to prosecute, and Owens walked out of jail completely exonerated. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. "[11], Legal scholar Jim Drennan, an expert on the court system at the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told the Winston-Salem Journal in a 2007 interview that the ability to use this form of guilty plea as an option in courts had a far-reaching effect throughout the United States. [30] The Court held that a ruling that the plea was entered into voluntarily is implied by the act of sentencing. North Carolina v. Alford. Justia U.S. Supreme Court. In some . The Alford Plea originated from a 1963 trial in North Carolina. During the plea hearing, Alford told the judge that he didnt commit the murder, and that he was only entering a plea of guilty to avoid the death penalty. The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function. This difference reflects the relative readiness of State courts, compared to Federal courts, to accept an alternative plea. alford plea. Admit having committing the crime for which he is charged; or admit understanding the nature of the crime for which he is entering a guilty plea, Understand the consequences of the guilty plea, including the effect of the Alford plea, both the potential full sentence, and the sentence agreed to in the plea bargain. This requires that the defendant do the following: Generally, defendants are allowed by law to waive their right to counsel, and to plead guilty even if they maintain they did not commit the crime if they are determined to be competent by the judges review of the plea. The Alford Plea was created in 1970, at the time Henry C. Alford was indicted for first degree murder(5). What an Alford plea offers-and what a no contest plea does not-is the opportunity to state on the record that you maintain your innocence. : a legal doctrine under which a criminal defendant who does not admit guilt is allowed to plead guilty as part of a plea bargain provided the plea is made voluntarily and with knowledge of the consequences The Alford doctrine provides that a court may accept a knowing and voluntary plea of guilty from a defendant. It is used by defendants to . The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The name, Alford plea, is taken from the caseNorth Carolina v. Alford. Alford pleas are legally permissible in nearly all U.S. federal and state courts, except in the state courts of Indiana, Michigan, and New Jersey, or in the courts of the United States Armed Forces. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 18 (2) A persistent felony offender in the second degree is a person who is more than 19 twenty-one (21) years of age and who stands convicted of a felony after having . Held: The trial judge did not commit constitutional error in accepting appellees guilty plea. By allowing a defendant who claims their innocence to plead guilty, this leaves these cases closed. Nolo pleas are no contest pleas. Understanding the exact nature of each plea is an important requirement for any person charged with a crime who is considering a negotiated disposition. "[37] Casper comments on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision to require evidence of guilt in such a plea: "By requiring that there be some evidence of guilt in such a situation, the decision attempts to protect the 'really' innocent from the temptations to which plea-bargaining and defense attorneys may subject them. At the time, Alford argued that his plea was "involuntary because its principal motivation was . This type of plea originates from a ruling handed down by the state's Appellate Court in 1987, which specified that one can avoid admitting guilt by accepting a prison sentence if he or she concludes that he or she would probably have been found guilty. Plea Best Not Taken: Why Criminal Defendants Should Avoid Taking the Alford Plea. [25] Upon receiving an Alford guilty plea from a defendant, the court may immediately pronounce the defendant guilty and impose sentence as if the defendant had otherwise been convicted of the crime. The possibility of receiving a lessened sentence is something all defendants inherently desire. An Alford plea is a guilty plea in criminal court whereby a defendant does not admit to committing the criminal act in which they've been accused and can still assert their innocence with the . If the issue of whether or not the defendant will be charged with a third strike is not addressed directly by the plea bargain, there may be an ugly surprise at sentencing. Essentially, the defendant does not admit the act, but admits that the prosecution could likely prove the charge at trial. [35][36], In his book American Criminal Justice (1972), Jonathan D. Casper comments on the Supreme Court decision, noting, "The Alford decision recognizes the plea-bargaining system, acknowledging that a man may maintain his innocence but still plead guilty in order to minimize his potential loss. . defendant must provide factual basis for the plea. One example is a situation where the defendant has no recollection of the pertinent events due to intoxication or amnesia. In Baltimore Maryland in the year 1998, James L. Owens and James A. Thompson were both convicted of the rape and murder of 24-year old college student Colleen Williar (1). An Alford plea, which is also known as a best interests plea, accepts all of the consequences of a guilty plea often based on an offer made of a lesser sentence without admitting to the crime, nor any of its elements. The History of the Alford Plea The Alford plea is named after the U.S. Supreme Court case, North Carolina v. Alford, from 1970. 1 The court appointed an attorney to represent him, and this attorney questioned all but one of the various witnesses who appellee said would substantiate his claim of innocence. He pleaded guilty to second degree murder so as to avoid the death penalty.