Legal Question in Criminal Law in Missouri

Re: plea options

In Missouri many Courts will allow a defendant to enter an "Alford" plea. Technically, this plea does not require the defendant to admit that he (or she) actually did exactly what the state alleges the defendant did, but the plea is based upon the defendant's acknowledgement that the state would probably be able to obtain a conviction if the case went to trial. This type of plea is sometimes used in cases where a straight plea of guilty might be used against the defendant in a later civil suit brought against the defendant by someone injured or damaged by the defendant's actions which brought about the criminal charges. I hope that this explanation is sufficiently clear to be of some help.

Also, there is obviously a plea of guilty persuant to plea negotiations, also known as a plea bargain. On these, the Judge is not bound by the recommendations of the prosecutor and may not agree to the deal. In those cases, the Judge will usually allow the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty based upon a plea bargain and stick with a plea of "not guilty".