Quote:
Originally Posted by deelo
They CAN force a defendant to admit to certain facts but they don't HAVE to do anything. The prosecution and judge can accept a guilty plea with no further explanation needed.
Get transcripts and let's see what actually happened.
|
That's true. They can accept an Alford plea (where the defendant maintains innocence), but prosecutors generally don't accept them, and judges don't like them either. In any event, Alford pleas usually get publicized as such-- this doesn't look like an Alford plea.
The prosecutors can also agree to a procedure where they read the facts into the record but do not require the defendant to assent to them, but in that situation, the judge can still ask, in the colloquy, that the defendant admit that those facts are true, and many judges do this as a matter of course. And any good defense lawyer advises their client BEFORE taking the plea deal that they may have to admit the facts as part of the colloquy. I am sure Brown was so advised.
