A good defense attorney is always your best source of information and legal advice.
A local municipal justice court posts bad (incorrect and/or misleading) information on its official website. The screenshot image below highlights some of the more significant legal errors from the page.
Some of the errors may seem small or subtle. But they are significant.
No Contest – Not an Admission of Truth
The site correctly states that a no contest plea “is not an admission of guilt.” However, the site continues, asserting that a no contest plea “is an admission of the truth of the facts alleged in the complaint.” This is an incorrect statement of law.
Entering a plea of no contest means that you are not “contesting” the charges — that you are choosing not to fight or challenge the charges, but instead allowing the court to enter a conviction against you without admitting guilt, and without admitting the truth of the allegations made against you.
By entering a no contest plea, you are in essence acknowledging that the facts alleged by the government prosecutor, if believed, would be sufficient to support the elements of the crime that has been charged. But just as a no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, it also does not constitute an admission that the facts alleged are true.
No Contest Pleas CAN Be Used Against You
The justice court’s website states, in apparent absolute terms, that a no contest plea “cannot be used against you in any other legal proceeding.” This statement is misleading.
A plea of no contest cannot be used against you as evidence that you have admitted guilt — because it is not an admission of guilt. But beyond that very limited sliver of protection, a no contest plea results in a conviction that has the same collateral consequences and ramifications as those that come from a guilty plea or trial verdict.
A no contest plea and its accompanying conviction can trigger administrative legal processes and penalties, can form the basis of a potential probation violation and order to show cause, and can lead to licensing suspensions or revocations. These are just a few examples.
If you plead no contest, you will not be found guilty.
The court’s website makes reference to entering a no contest plea and then being found guilty… ultimately leading to sentencing. The language used on the website is particularly confusing on this point.
Being “found guilty” involves a combination of findings of fact and legal conclusions made by a jury at trial (or a judge, in a bench trial). Entering a plea of guilty is an admission of guilt which, if the plea is accepted by the court, results in a conviction.
If you enter a plea of no contest, and if that plea is accepted by the court, then a conviction will enter against you. But in entering a no contest plea, you will be waiving the right to have a trial and to require the prosecution to prove the case against you. You will be convicted, but you will not be “found guilty.”
You have a RIGHT to speak at your own sentencing.
It may seem like nitpicking, but there is a real and significant difference between being “permitted” to make a statement on your own behalf at sentencing and the “rights” that are guaranteed to each person who is facing sentencing in a criminal case.
The right of allocution guarantees each person the right to directly address the court and to speak on their own behalf before the court determines the appropriate sentence in a case. This is a personal right, in addition to and not replaced by the right to be represented by counsel at sentencing.
Due Process protections also guarantee the right to present other mitigating information or evidence to the court before a sentence is entered.
To suggest that you will be “permitted” to speak at sentencing implies that this is an act of grace afforded to you by the court rather than being a set of important constitutional rights and protections guaranteed to each individual.
Sentencing in Two (2) to Forty-Five (45) Days
The court website states that in most cases, for either a no contest plea or a guilty plea, “sentencing will occur at the same time and day.” This may be an accurate statement of the court’s standard practice, but it is not an accurate statement of the law.
Under Utah law, a person has the right to be sentenced no sooner than two (2) days after a conviction is entered, and no later than forty-five (45) days after conviction. In other words, if you enter a guilty plea or a not contest plea (or if you are found guilty at trial), you have the right to have sentencing delayed until some time during that 2-45 day window.
The court or prosecutor may often suggest that proceeding with sentencing at the time of conviction will be more efficient. But a defendant must first waive the right to delay sentencing in order to allow the court to proceed immediately to sentencing.
Handling sentencing at the same time will often be to the defendant’s advantage. But not always. Advice from a good criminal defense attorney is important in determining the best way to proceed.
