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Nolo contendere

 

 
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Nolo contendere
 
 
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is a legal term that comes from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea
Plea

Plea:verb- to ask for something in an emotional or intense way.In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system....
 of "No Contest."

In criminal trials
Trial (law)

In law, a trial is an event in which parties come together to a dispute present information in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute....
, and in some common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant
Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally indictment or accused of violating a crime statute....
 neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of guilty
Guilt (law)

In criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a ?court of law.? Being ?guilty? of a criminal offense means that one has committed a violation of criminal law, or performed all the elements of the offense set out by a criminal statute....
 or not guilty
Acquittal

In criminal law, an acquittal is a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of Guilt y being entered against the accused....
.

A no contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea, and is often offered as a part of a plea bargain
Plea bargain

A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence....
.

In many jurisdictions a plea of is not a right
Right

Rights are legal or moral entitlements or permissions. Rights are of vital importance in theories of justice and deontology.Many contemporary notions of rights are Universality and egalitarianism, with equal rights granted to all people....
, and carries various restrictions on its use.

n essay on the origin of the Nolo Contendere Plea, Anthony J.






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is a legal term that comes from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea
Plea

Plea:verb- to ask for something in an emotional or intense way.In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system....
 of "No Contest."

In criminal trials
Trial (law)

In law, a trial is an event in which parties come together to a dispute present information in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute....
, and in some common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant
Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally indictment or accused of violating a crime statute....
 neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of guilty
Guilt (law)

In criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a ?court of law.? Being ?guilty? of a criminal offense means that one has committed a violation of criminal law, or performed all the elements of the offense set out by a criminal statute....
 or not guilty
Acquittal

In criminal law, an acquittal is a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of Guilt y being entered against the accused....
.

A no contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea, and is often offered as a part of a plea bargain
Plea bargain

A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence....
.

In many jurisdictions a plea of is not a right
Right

Rights are legal or moral entitlements or permissions. Rights are of vital importance in theories of justice and deontology.Many contemporary notions of rights are Universality and egalitarianism, with equal rights granted to all people....
, and carries various restrictions on its use.

Origin

In an essay on the origin of the Nolo Contendere Plea, Anthony J. Fejfar argues that the Nolo Contendere plea has biblical origins. Fejfar argues that it entered English Common Law "based upon English ecclesiastical Law which is modeled after the encounter of Jesus with Pilate during Holy Week". In the encounter, Jesus neither agreed nor denied guilt to the charge of calling himself the messiah, effectively pleading "no contest".

Derived from English Common Law, several Common Law jurisdictions, including the United States also adopted the nolo contendere concept.

United States

In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, state law determines whether, and under what circumstances a defendant may plead no contest. Several other common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 countries, however, prohibit the plea altogether.

One of the most famous pleas in U.S. history
History of the United States

The first known inhabitants of modern-day United States territory are believed to have arrived over a period of several thousand years beginning sometime prior to 15,000 - 50,000 years ago by crossing Beringia into Alaska....
 was that of Vice President
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
 Spiro T. Agnew, who was accused of crimes committed while he was the Governor of Maryland
Governor of Maryland

The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Maryland and is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces....
. Mr. Agnew pleaded in a Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 court to the charges. Eventually, Agnew was forced to resign as Vice President.

Residual effects

A plea has the same immediate effects as a plea of guilty, but may have different residual effects or consequences in future actions. For instance, a conviction arising from a nolo plea is subject to any and all penalties, fines, and forfeitures of a conviction from a guilty plea in the same case, and can be considered as an aggravating factor in future criminal actions. However, unlike a guilty plea, a defendant in a plea may not be required to allocute
Allocution

Generally, to allocute in law means "to speak out formally." In the field of apologetics, allocution is generally done in defense of a belief. In politics, one may allocute before a legislature in an effort to influence their position on an issue....
 the charges. This means that a conviction typically may not be used to establish either negligence per se
Negligence per se

Negligence List of Latin phrases is the legal doctrine whereby an act is considered negligent because it violates a statute . In order to prove negligence per se, the plaintiff must show that the defendant violated the statute, the statute is a safety statute, the act caused the kind of harm the statute was designed to prevent, and...
, malice
Malice (legal term)

Malice is a legal term referring to a party's intention to do injury to another party. Malice is either expressed or implied. Malice is express when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a human being....
, or whether the acts were committed at all in later civil proceedings related to the same set of facts as the criminal prosecution.

Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, and most state rules which parallel them, pleas may not be used to defeat the hearsay prohibition if offered as an "Admission of [a] Party-Opponent". Assuming the appropriate gravity of the charge, and all other things being equal, a guilty plea to the same charge would cause the reverse effect: An opponent at trial could introduce the plea, over a hearsay objection, as evidence to establish a certain fact.

Alaska

In Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
, a criminal conviction based on a "nolo" plea may be used against the defendant in future civil actions. The Alaska Supreme Court
Alaska Supreme Court

The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court in the U.S. state of Alaska's Judiciary . The supreme court is composed of the chief justice and four associate judge, who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections and who choose one of their own members to serve a three-year term as Chief Justice....
 ruled in 2006 that a "conviction based on a no contest plea will collaterally estop the criminal defendant from denying any element in a subsequent civil action against him that was necessarily established by the conviction, as long as the prior conviction was for a serious criminal offense and the defendant in fact had the opportunity for a full and fair hearing".

Florida

In Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, the state Supreme Court
Florida Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the State of Florida is the state supreme court of Florida. Established upon statehood in 1845, the court has undergone many reorganizations in its history as Florida population grew....
  held in 2005 that "no contest" convictions may be treated as prior convictions for the purposes of future sentencing.

Texas

In some jurisdictions, such as the U.S. state
U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
 of Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, the right to appeal the results of a plea bargain
Plea bargain

A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence....
 taken from a plea of is highly restricted. In Texas, defendants who have entered a plea of may only appeal the judgment of the court if the appeal is based on written pretrial motions ruled upon by the court.

See also

  • Nolle prosequi
    Nolle prosequi

    Nolle prosequi is a List of Latin legal phrases meaning "do not pursue." It is the term used in many common law criminal jurisdictions to describe a prosecutor's application to discontinue criminal law charges before trial , or up until, but before verdict....
  • Alford plea
    Alford plea

    In the law of the United States, an Alford plea is a plea in criminal court in which 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....