10/18/2022 Understanding an Alford PleaStephen Krzyston is a South Carolina attorney with more than a decade of professional experience. Since 2019, Stephen Krzyston has served as an attorney at Cavanaugh & Thickens where he focuses on litigation, including criminal defense matters such as the Alford Plea.
An Alford Plea is when a defendant maintains their innocence, but does not wish to proceed to trial as the prosecution has strong evidence a defendant believes will lead to a conviction. A defendant who successfully gives an Alford plea can be sued later in a civil court over the same case and cannot challenge the guilty plea in a civil case. An Alford plea shares similarities with a guilty plea because it is not possible to avoid a conviction. However, defendants who plead guilty through the Alford plea can face less serious penalties as opposed to going through a trial as courts often handle this plea differently from a standard guilty plea. The main reason defendants opt for an Alford plea is because they don’t have sufficient evidence to sustain a defense case or an alibi’s testimony is weak. In most cases, the defense evidence lacks strength compared to the prosecution, making it hard to avoid a conviction. In this case, the defendant knows they’re not in a position to successfully defend accusations against them, so they don’t admit guilt, but they accept the penalties that come with a conviction. Comments are closed.
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AuthorStephen Krzyston - South Carolina Attorney With Criminal Defense Focus. Archives
October 2022
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