grandmama --
The reason you couldn't find the origin of the term "Alfred plea" is
because the term is actually "Alford plea." It is derived from the
Supreme Court's 1970 decision in North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S.
25.
Here, from Wikipedia, is the definition of the term:
"An Alford Plea is a plea of guilty in which the defendant does not
admit the act, but admits that the prosecution could likely prove the
charge. The court will pronounce the defendant guilty. This plea
originated in the United States Supreme Court case of North Carolina v
Alford, 400 US 25. An Alford plea generally has the same effect as a
plea of guilty with respect to sentencing, civil disability, and use
of the conviction as an aggravating factor if the defendant is later
convicted of another offense."
Wikipedia: Alford Plea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alford_plea
And, here is a useful and concise -- if "unofficial" and informal --
summary of the relevant holding in the Alford case:
"I guess they failed to explain that a successful appeal would
probably have to overturn the 1970 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
in North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25. It is a first-degree
capital murder case. The Supremes overruled the appeals court stating
it, "was in error to find Alford's plea of guilty invalid because it
was made to avoid the possibility of the death penalty." Although
Alford said he didn't do it, the plea was held valid and binding. The
threat of the death penalty was considered not to be coercion. So
sayeth the 9 wise men. In 1970! "
That summary comes from a Web site devoted to improving the due
process of the military justice system. Some more detail can be found
here:
Military Injustice: PO1 John Mullahy, Jr. (scroll halfway down the
page to "Part 5")
http://www.militaryinjustice.org/case-mullahy-gcm.htm
Search Strategy:
I found it curious that there were 50+ Google "hits" for "alfred
plea," when the text of first few results used the term as if it were
a familiar one:
"alfred plea"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22alfred+plea%22&spell=1
After getting no "hits" for "alfred plea" at the comprehensive
Findlaw.com site and striking out with various searches for case names
including "v. Alfred", it finally occurred to me that the right word
was likely not "alfred" but something close to it.
So I went back to the 53 results of my first Google search and browsed
them for a site that might contain both "alfred" and whatever the
right word one is. Lo and behold, the "Militaryinjustice.org" site
linked above appeared on page two of the results.
I think I've got the answer for you, Granny, so you can sleep well tonight.
markj-ga |
