Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

No Contest plea

Young male, no prior record, charged with tresspassing (women locker room in a recreational center)pleads No contest when attorney advices him to go to trial with 50-50 chance to win (per attorney's statement.) Witnesses, pool manager and a minor girl who saw him entering. He just enters by mistake and exits. When asked why this choice, he says he feared going to trial, although he believes he is not guilty, because he is sure that prosecutor and pool manager are after him no matter what. What are the pluses and minuses to pleading No guilty in this case? How can it affect his future?


Asked on 12/25/01, 12:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: No Contest plea

There are no pluses in the scenario that you've described, only minuses. Innocent people or those who believe they're innocent, normally, should not be pleading guilty. Even if he went to trial and lost, as a first time offender he would still most likely receive virtually the same sentence offered by the prosecutor(probably, an SIS, i.e, suspended imposition of sentence).

Incidentally, a plea of no contest is the same as a guilty plea. If the defendant received the benefit of an SIS, and completes all the requirements of his probation, the record of his case and conviction will be expunged after one year.

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Answered on 12/25/01, 1:25 pm


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