Alford plea
American guilty plea in which the defendant accepts punishment while denying guilt
An Alford plea is a special form of guilty plea in American criminal law in which the defendant formally pleads guilty and accepts punishment while continuing to maintain innocence of the charges. The device allows a defendant to avoid the risk of a full trial when the evidence is so strong that conviction appears likely, without having to admit actual guilt.
The institution was established through the United States Supreme Court decision in North Carolina v. Alford in 1970. In that case the Court accepted that a court may receive a guilty plea even where the defendant maintains innocence, provided three conditions are met: the defendant's acceptance must be voluntary and well informed, there must be a strong factual basis for guilt, and the court must be satisfied that the defendant understands the consequences of the plea.
The legal effects of an Alford plea correspond fully to those of an ordinary guilty plea. The defendant is convicted of the offence and sentenced in the same way as if guilt had been admitted. The judgment carries the same precedential effect and may have significance in later civil proceedings, even though the defendant has never acknowledged the underlying facts.
The device is typically used in cases where the defendant faces very serious charges carrying the risk of a severe sentence, but where the prosecution is willing to accept a lesser punishment through a plea bargain. Particularly in homicide cases, where there would otherwise be a risk of the death penalty or a life sentence, Alford pleas have been used as a pragmatic solution.
The Alford plea is not recognised in Danish law or in other continental legal systems. In Denmark, a confession requires the defendant actually to acknowledge the criminal conduct, and plea bargaining does not exist in the same form. The Danish legal system rests on the principle of mandatory public prosecution, under which the prosecution service has a duty to pursue the case even if the defendant wishes to resolve it through negotiation.
The terminology surrounding Alford pleas can vary between American states, and not all states accept this form of guilty plea. Some jurisdictions have rejected the device on grounds of principle, finding it problematic that the legal system accepts convictions without an actual acknowledgement of guilt.
