No Contest Plea

When charged with a crime, a defendant has the option of pleading Guilty, Not Guilty, or No Contest. The No Contest plea is also frequently referred to by its Latin term, nolo contendere. A no contest plea is allowed in most states, but not all.

Pleading no contest to a charge means the defendant will accept the court’s punishment without argument. This is useful in cases where one crime is linked to another. For instance, a driver might plead no contest to DUI (driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol) if there are charges pending in civil court for injuries. While pleading guilty to DUI would be evidence in that civil court case, pleading no contest means they cannot use a DUI conviction in civil court.

In other instances, a person might have a long list of charges against them. Pleading no contest to the lesser charges can speed up the court process.

In some cases a defendant is required to formally apologize to a victim’s family for the harm his or her actions have caused. This is essentially an admission of guilt, which could be used against the defendant in a civil suit. Pleading no contest excuses the defendant from this formal apology proceeding, thereby minimizing evidence for later lawsuits.

If a defendant refuses to enter a plea, the court may enter a no contest plea on the defendant’s behalf so that a trial may be set. The defendant will be fairly dealt with through a jury trial.

A no contest plea might be entered if there is a great deal of evidence against the defendant. The defendant’s attorney might suggest that a jury trial would result in harsher punishment. With a nolo contendere plea, the defendant has an opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding the crime in court or in the judge’s chambers. This can help reduce the sentencing. With a plea of nolo contendere, there is no trial and sentencing is often made immediately. A similar plea, the Alford Plea, arose in our judicial system based on a 1963 murder in North Carolina. The defendant faced the death penalty if convicted, and so chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge – second-degree murder – in order to reduce the sentence. The defendant could still maintain innocence with the media.