Also known as: nolo contendere plea · no contest · no-contest plea
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A criminal defendant's formal response to charges that accepts the court's judgment without admitting factual guilt. The plea produces a conviction and sentence but shields the defendant from using the admission against the defendant in later civil proceedings.
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Nia Nkosi was charged with securities fraud and entered a nolo contendere plea. In a later civil action by investors, the plaintiffs offered the plea to prove the underlying misrepresentations. The court excluded the evidence because the rule bars a nolo plea against the defendant who entered it.
Naomi Norton and Natalie Norris faced related misdemeanor charges. Their lawyer presented a package offer under which both would enter nolo contendere pleas or the deal would collapse. The lawyer obtained each client's separate written consent after disclosing every term and the interdependence of the pleas.
Nathaniel Newman was indicted in one district but arrested in another. He filed a written statement requesting to plead nolo contendere and waive trial in the charging district, consented to disposition in the arrest district, and obtained approval from both United States attorneys. The case transferred and the plea proceeded.
Nikhil Narayan was convicted after a nolo contendere plea to a felony. In a later civil suit the plaintiff offered the judgment to prove an essential fact. The court refused the evidence because the hearsay exception for prior convictions excludes judgments based on nolo pleas.
Nigel Nelson's lawyer raised an oral challenge to the indictment during arraignment and immediately announced a nolo contendere plea. The court accepted the plea without ruling on the challenge. On appeal the court held that the voluntary plea waived the nonjurisdictional defect.
Two adults were charged under a state sodomy statute after private consensual conduct. They entered nolo contendere pleas, were fined, and appealed the constitutional validity of the statute. The Supreme Court reached the merits and struck down the law.
No. Federal Rule of Evidence 410(a)(2) excludes evidence of a nolo contendere plea offered against the defendant who entered it in any civil or criminal proceeding. The rule treats the plea the same as a withdrawn guilty plea to encourage resolution without creating usable admissions.
Only with informed consent. Model Rule 1.8(g) prohibits a lawyer from participating in an aggregated agreement as to nolo contendere pleas unless each client gives informed consent in a signed writing that discloses the existence, nature, and participation of every person in the arrangement.
…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…
…and aggravation of punishment, including the record of any prior criminal convictions and pleas of guilty or plea
…pleaded guilty, Rule 11 read as follows: “A defendant may plea
…the law’s demands. When the express terms of a statute give us one answer and extratextual considerations suggest another, it’s no contest
…see Pet. for Cert. 10-11), approximately 92.2% of the convictions in the Ninth Circuit were secured through plea
No. Federal Rule of Evidence 803(22) expressly limits the exception to judgments entered after trial or a guilty plea and excludes those based on a nolo contendere plea. The conviction therefore cannot be offered to prove an essential fact under that exception.
The court must consider the parties' views and the public interest in the effective administration of justice under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(3). The court must also ensure the plea is voluntary under Rule 11(b)(2).
Generally no. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e) provides that after the court imposes sentence the defendant may not withdraw a nolo contendere plea, and the plea may be set aside only on direct appeal or collateral attack.