Pleading no Contest In A Criminal Case - The Legal Process

When a person is charged with a crime they can enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest. Typically, a guilty or no contest plea is entered as a end result of a plea agreement a deal reached with the prosecutor in which the defendant offers up their proper to go to trial in exchange for a certain, agreed on punishment. It is crucial when getting into a plea to realize your alternatives and how a no contest plea is the two related to and distinct from a guilty plea.

What is a no contest plea? Pleading no contest to a criminal charge is not an admission of guilt like when getting into a guilty plea. As an alternative, a defendant getting into a no contest plea agrees not to challenge the criminal charge he accepts the deal reached in the plea agreement without having expressly admitting that he committed the crime.

How is a plea of no contest equivalent to a plea of guilty? A plea of no contest and guilty are handled identically for sentencing functions in a criminal situation. For illustration, if a defendant charged with DUI pleads no contest, the court will deal with the no contest plea the very same as if the defendant had plead guilty. The defendants sentence and punishment will not change by pleading no contest As a substitute of guilty.

Why plead no contest? A plea of no contest is handled in a different way than a guilty plea if the defendant is sued by the victim in a civil lawsuit. For illustration, picture a defendant that beats an individual up and is charged criminally with battery and is also sued by the victim in a civil situation (a civil battery claim). If the defendant pleads guilty in the criminal situation, his guilty plea can be employed towards him in the civil situation as proof of his liability. On the other hand, if the defendant pleads no contest in the criminal situation, his no contest plea can not be utilised as proof of his liability in the civil situation.

For defendants charged with crimes wherever the victim could also sue in a civil lawsuit, it is critical to recognize the variation among pleading guilty and pleading no contest. Although pleading no contest As an alternative of guilty will have no real impact in the criminal situation, it could be crucial in the civil situation.

Sincerely, Steven Valerio and Garret Weinrieb Valerio | Weinrieb Criminal Defense Attorneys

(note: Info contained inside this post is meant for common Info functions only and is not, nor is it meant to be, legal guidance for any person situation or case. The Info contained inside this post is not meant to produce an attorney-consumer connection and use of this post, and any Info contained herein, does not constitute this kind of a connection.)