Also known as: nolo contendere · no contest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A plea in a criminal case in which the defendant does not contest the charges but does not admit guilt. The plea allows the court to treat the defendant as guilty for purposes of conviction and sentencing while preserving the ability to deny the underlying facts in later civil proceedings.
Noah Nakamura faces federal fraud charges and enters a nolo contendere plea. The government later seeks to introduce the plea in a related civil enforcement action brought by a private plaintiff. The court excludes the plea under the governing evidence rule.
Nalini Narula and Nicole Navarro are co-defendants charged in the same indictment. Their shared lawyer proposes that both enter nolo contendere pleas in exchange for a single sentencing package. The lawyer must obtain each client's separate written consent after full disclosure before the arrangement can proceed.
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Noreen Nguyen is arrested in a distant district while charges remain pending elsewhere. She files a written statement requesting transfer so she can enter a nolo contendere plea and waive trial in the original district. Both United States attorneys approve the transfer in writing, allowing the receiving court to dispose of the case.
Nikhil Narayan is convicted after a nolo contendere plea to a felony. In a subsequent civil suit, the plaintiff offers the conviction to establish an essential element of the claim. The court refuses to admit the judgment for that purpose because it rests on a nolo plea rather than a guilty plea or trial.
Naomi Norton enters plea discussions after receiving a written waiver of the usual evidentiary protections. She later seeks to exclude her statements when the government offers them at trial. The court enforces the waiver and admits the statements because the parties validly agreed to forgo the default exclusion.
Nordic Ventures faces a corporate criminal charge and its counsel negotiates a nolo contendere plea. The court addresses the corporate representative personally, confirms the plea is voluntary, and accepts it after finding no force or improper promises. The company may not later withdraw the plea after sentencing.
A nolo contendere plea supports a criminal conviction but does not constitute an admission of guilt. Therefore the conviction itself is not conclusive evidence of the underlying facts in a subsequent civil action.
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Before accepting a nolo contendere plea the court must consider the parties' views and the public interest in the effective administration of justice. The court retains discretion to refuse the plea even if the defendant and prosecutor agree.
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With court and government consent a defendant may enter a conditional nolo contendere plea that reserves the right to appellate review of a specified pretrial motion. If the defendant prevails on appeal the plea may be withdrawn.
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A nolo contendere plea involves no admission of legal guilt. An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which the defendant protests factual innocence yet acknowledges that the government could prove the charges.
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…the Texas Constitution. Tex. Const., Art. 1, § 3a. Those contentions were rejected. The petitioners, having entered a plea of nolo contendere , were each fined $200 and assessed court costs of $141.25. App. to Pet. for Cert. 107a-110a. The Court of Appeals for the Texas Fourteenth District considered the petitioners' federal…