Plea Guilty facts

While investigating facts about Plea Guilty, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In 2006 a US Soldier pleaded guilty to murdering two officers in Iraq in exchange for life in prison. His plea was rejected so he could be tried at Court Martial under the dealth penalty, where he was found not guilty and given an Honorable Discharge.

After he was accused of witchcraft, Giles Corey was subjected to "pressing." He was stripped naked and weight was added to a heavy plank on his chest to force him to plead innocent or guilty. Each time he was asked to make his plea, he said "more weight" and was eventually crushed to death.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 20 of the best facts about Plea Guilty I managed to collect.

1. An Alford Plea is a guilty plea from a defendant who claims innocence, but admits the evidence against them enough to prove guilt.

2. Giles Corey who, in 1692, was pressed to death in Salem, MA for refusing to plead innocent or guilty of witchcraft. When asked for a plea, he replied with, "More weight."

3. It is not dishonest to enter a "not guilty" plea even if guilty because in the eyes of the law you are innocent until proven guilty.

4. About the Alford Guilty Plea, in which the defendant does not admit to the crime and will defend their innocence, but admits that the jury may find them guilty based on the evidence presented.

5. Ted Bundy was offered a 75-year plea deal, but refused because he realized accepting the deal meant "he was going to have to stand up in front of the whole world and say he was guilty" and he "just couldn't do it"

6. An Alford plea (also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea and the Alford doctrine), in United States law, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence.

7. English common law used to require a spoken guilty or not guilty plea, so indicted defendants who remained silent were crushed with weights until they spoke or died

8. Alford plea, a guilty plea that does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence but admits the evidence would persuade a jury to find the defendant guilty.

9. In early French law that when a person refused to plea guilty or not guilty for a trial, they would be crushed by heavier and heavier rocks until they either made a plea or suffocated

Plea Guilty data charts

For your convenience take a look at Plea Guilty figures with stats and charts presented as graphic.

What is true about plea guilty?

You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.

Sirhan Sirhan, Robert Kennedys assassin, asked to be executed when his lawyers wanted to enter a plea of guilty in exchange for life in prison. The judge refused his request. Later, when found guilty, he was sentenced to death only to have it overturned 3 years later. He is still alive.

In 1992 President Bush pardoned 6 people involved in the Iran-Contra Affair which had produced 1 conviction and 3 guilty pleas - source

Hillary Clinton defended a child rapist. She plea bargained to time served. She later spoke about the case, admitting the man was guilty, and bragged about getting the key evidence thrown out of court. - source

Between Not Guilty, Guilty And No Contest, Which Should I Plea At My Arraignment?

In Dayton, What's The Difference Between A Guilty And No Contest Plea? - source

The average sentence imposed for US federal drug defendants that choose to go to trial for their crimes is three times higher than the sentenced received after a guilty plea

The rules determining whether a plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity" is valid are known as the M'Naghten Rules

A presidential pardon can be refused (looked it up b/c of Manaford guilty plea)