Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. We're punishing an innocent person!" reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s): If you don't know how to explain something, don't just guess. I always assumed an Alford plea would only be used in a case where there is evidence against the suspect but a catch. [3] Known by the moniker The West Memphis Three, they maintain their innocence. [12] Alford asserted his innocence, but because of the strong evidence against him, his attorney advised him to plead guilty to a reduced charge. Delivered to your inbox! Alford was charged with his murder and Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with: Alford plea. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Alford%20plea. Learn more An Alford plea is not a guilty plea, it's a statement of "I'm not guilty but I'm not going to fight it". These developments were chronicled in Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011). During the plea Acase was lodged aftera brief was prepared byFederal Police and a family trust into which book sales were being paid was frozen. Lilly is caught stealing clothing from a local shop, and fights with the security officer on or way out, before police take her into custody. They want the admission of guilt. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain their innocence, but acknowledge that pleading guilty is in their best interest, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. This can help a defendant avoid collateral consequences in a civil lawsuit that arises from the same events as the criminal case. Welcome to the Capstone Commentary, an online platform where students interested in legal research can test their hand at writing about the law. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. The right to appeal based on ineffective assistance of counsel also may be automatic, regardless of whether the plea was conditional. An Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence. The Alford plea came out of North Carolina v. Alford, where the Supreme Court of the United States held that judges do not violate due process by accepting guilty pleas from defendants who simultaneously assert their innocence. [11] In 1963, Henry Alford was indicted for first-degree murder, which at the time automatically called for the death penalty when the conviction followed a plea of innocence. The Supreme Court ruled that since Alford was informed by his lawyers of the consequences of accepting the lesser charge, he could choose the lesser charge and face those punishments, even while claiming he was innocent. | Disclaimer Defendants who take Alford pleas also may believe they are receiving a deal at the time, but it causes damaging effects once they are released from prison. It's a hail Mary type of plea, usually, to avoid a case going to trial and likely being lost. Two of the defendants, Jason Baldwin [20], When we told prosecutors we were innocent, they put us in prison for life. To be more precise, an Alford plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who claims to be innocent. A no-contest (or "nolo contendere") plea is a plea by a defendant who accepts punishment but doesn't admit guilt. Both kinds of plea result in conviction. ProPublica.com. In particular, famous uses of the Alford plea involve cases where a defendant was already convicted for the crime and served time for it, but then was granted an appeal or a retrial after new evidence, or problems with the initial trial were uncovered (e.g. She was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their Durham, North Carolina mansion. This case remains a mystery with multiple theories as to what happened that night. NFLX Disclaimer: The views expressed on the Commentary are solely those of the authors, and do not reflect the views of the LRC or the University of Alabama. Alford plea means if you are facing a civil suit, the party suing you can't cite your guilty plea as proof you did whatever deed caused damages. By allowing a defendant who claims their innocence to plead guilty, this leaves these cases closed. Alford was offered a plea deal in which, if he pled guilty to second-degree murder, he would receive a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. When she accepts a deal to enter an Alford plea of guilty to only the charge of robbery, the judge accepts. had all the evidence you use in this example then why would they accept a plea deal allowing the defendant to use an Alford Plea? has its version, a 13-episode documentary series, and HBO Max has the scripted version starring Toni Collette and Colin Firth. If they are charged after a car accident or an assault, for example, the victim of the accident or assault might bring a claim for personal injury damages. Henry Alford died in prison, just five years after the High Courts ruling. An Alford plea is a plea that may be entered by a defendant who has been charged with a crime. In the 1970 Court ruling, Justice Byron White explained that a defendant is free to enter a plea of guilty in the face of innocence, if he decides that it is in his best interests to do so. https://www.propublica.org/article/what-does-an-innocent-man-have-to-do-alford-plea-guilty(accessed December 11, 2018). [Last updated in June of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team], The name, Alford plea, is taken from the case, An Alford plea, also known as a "best-interests plea," registers a formal admission of, The main difference between a nolo contendere plea and an Alford plea is that, in an Alford plea, the defendant formally pleads guilty while, in a nolo contendere plea, the defendant refuses to assert either guilt or innocence. An Alford plea allows the defendant to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that the Some states do not allow for conditional pleas or allow for them only in certain situations. Ward, Bryan. Often, a defendant may strongly maintain their innocence for several reasons, such as civil liability or simply their righteous indignation. For 18 years, Damien, Jason, and Jesse sat behind bars, having appeal after appeal denied. Michael Peterson has consistently maintained his innocence in the 2001 death of his wife, Kathleen. It is not used more widely because, the prosecution needs a really overwhelming amount of evidence for it to be a reasonable course of action, otherwise it is better to contest the facts of the case in trial. [14], According to the Court, [o]rdinarily, a judgment of conviction resting on a plea of guilty is justified by the defendants admission that he committed the crime charged against him and his consent that judgment be entered without a trial of any kind. [15] However, it quantified that while most pleas of guilty consist of both a waiver of trial and an express admission of guilt, the latter element is not a constitutional requisite to the imposition of criminal penalty. [16] Therefore, a defendant may voluntarily, knowingly, and understandingly consent to the imposition of a prison sentence even if he is unwilling or unable to admit his participation in the acts constituting the crime. [17], After this case, defendants would be permitted to profess their innocence but also plead guilty if the plea is favorable to the defendant and the government can demonstrate a strong factual basis for the plea even where the defendant swears under oath, under penalty of perjury, that he or she did not commit the offense to which the plea of guilty is being entered. [18], The Alford plea has plenty of negative aspects. Is that different from pleading No Contest? In most cases, the prosecution has no incentive to accept an Alford plea as part of such a deal. One moose, two moose. Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. By February 2017, while awaiting his new trial and aware of how unpredictable a jury can be, Peterson entered an Alford plea and under the terms of the deal, accepted a charge of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to time already served. Alford agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder, according to the U.S. Justice Department. We never had an argument in our life and I just pleaded guilty because they said if I didnt they would gas me for it, and that is all. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Please enter a legal issue and/or a location, (city, This entails considering the seriousness of the crime, and whether the defendant has a prior history of criminal activity. If the D.A. The sentence was handed down after the pair entered Alford pleas -- often dubbed the "guilty yet innocent" plea. So, Alford pleas are generally pretty rare. Effectively it's a way for a defendant to receive the benefits of an early plea (lesser sentence, lesser charge) without formally admitting guilt. On the advice of his attorney, Alford pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second degree murder. The distinction between the two is clear (now). The Alford plea is not the best choice in all circumstances. Ratliff and Margaret (Ratliff) Blakemore. There are a few state courts you can't do it in, and I'm fairly sure you can't do it in US military court. When someone is wrongfully convicted, taking an Alford plea may seem like a way out of a tragic situation. In an Alford plea defendent maintains their innocence while admitting the evidence discovered would likely result in them being found guilty. 4. That suing party will have to prove it the long way by presenting evidence, etc. Pleading 'guilty' to the criminal charge would effectively mean the civil suit and disciplinary hearing was automatically lost. Essentially, What Does an Innocent Man Have to Do to Go Free? after North Carolina vs. Alford, U.S. Supreme Court case (1970) that sanctioned such a plea. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Perhaps the most common alternative is a no contest (nolo contendere) plea. Johnson pointed a gun at officers from a rooftop as they monitored Jefferson Square in September 2020. Guilty Plea With No Admission of Guilt Like a nolo contendere plea, an Alford plea allows a criminal defendant to enter a guilty plea without admitting guilt. Hed lost faith in the criminal justice system. An Alford plea is a prudent alternative for criminal defendants who find themselves faced with overwhelming evidence and a severe penalty if convicted, yet choose to maintain their The statement said Hicks had challenged the admissibility of the documentary evidence against him, including the certificate of conviction from the Guantanamo military court and the transcripts of the court's hearings. This is referred to as a Brady violation(8), named after the 1963 Supreme Court case in which the court stated that the suppression of evidence favorable to the accused upon request violates the due process where evidence is material to either guilt or punishment(9). An Alford plea, also known as a "best-interests plea," registers a formal admission of guilt towards charges in criminal court while the defendant simultaneously expresses their innocence toward those same charges. In a statement, the DPP said the decision to drop the case had been made after new evidence came to light. The Alford plea is sometimes used in plea bargaining, as it allows the accused person to enter a plea recognizing that the prosecutions evidence would likely result in a conviction, even while maintaining he did not commit the crime. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in North Carolina v. Alford allows a defendant to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence. Result in them being found guilty case ( 1970 ) that sanctioned such a plea Commentary, online! And/Or access information on a device just five years after the High ruling! The internet for layperson-friendly explanations arises from the same events as the criminal charge would effectively mean the civil and. 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